A Call to the Dead

Today I want to sent you a word of encouragement. One that calls us out of our sins and into the light of Christ. As I was doing my daily feasting the Lord brought me to Eph 5:14 “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light” As I read this my spirit was stirred in me. so today let us examine this verse a little bit deeper.

To start I want you to read Eph 5:14 out of the Message version “Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light!” what a great picture this is drawing. Jesus is calling us out of our sleep, and to climb out of our coffins (to be raised from the dead), and He will show us the light!...

Now let us look at this again in the NKJV “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light” when I got this verse early in the week I asked the Lord if there was anything to go with it. He didn’t speak and add anything to this verse. So I just prayed it over my life. I asked Jesus to awaken me out of my sleep, and to call me from the dead, and to show me His light. It was only yesterday that Jesus spoke more on this scripture.

First I looked up the different words in Strong’s…. I will rewrite the verse using the Strong’s definitions, and the Message version.

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Awake (with a cause to be born), you who sleep (yielding and slothful in sin, indifferent to your own salvation) Arise from the dead, and climb out of your coffins (prepare yourselves for a journey, for a life once in destitution, but now recognizes and is devoted to God, because you at one time were given up to trespasses and sins), and Christ will show you the light (Christ will pour upon you the divine truth, as the sun gives light to men aroused from sleep)

What a great hope we have in Jesus! He calls us out of our deadness just like He did in Luke 7:14-15a “Then He (Jesus) came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said ‘Young man, I say to you arise.’ So he who was dead sat up and began to speak…” and in John 11:43-44a “Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice ‘Lazarus come forth!’ and he who had died came out…” Brothers, Jesus has and is calling you to arise out of your dead state. You are on your journey to freedom, and that first requires our savior to call us (which He already has). Then and only then are we able to act on that calling, we are to “climb out of our coffins” and devote our lives to Jesus.

Please consider this in Luke 9:23-24 “23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” We must first die. We must come to a point where we no longer have the desire to live in our sins, and to a point where we know we need saving. That is where Jesus tell us to die to our flesh daily, that we may be raised (by Jesus) from our dead state, and made a live in Him!... yes it is a scary thing to die to yourselves, for fear of death is normal if your hope and strength is in yourself. But, if your hope and faith is in Jesus you know that His word is truth, living and powerful, therefore He will come to your death and call out to you “_____(your name) Come forth, arise from the dead!” Our lives are not to be lived for ourselves, but to be lived for Him. Put away all your cares and worries, for Jesus will give you new life! Just as Jesus rose from the dead, so will he raise you from the dead. Let your life be so changed, that when people come and seek you they will find not find “you” but will find an empty tomb. Luke 24:5b-6a “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!”

Now is this process easy? No! Will we be tempted? YES! So what do we do? We pray! Look at these verses:

Luke 22:40b, 46b “…Pray that you may not enter into temptation…Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

1 Thess 5:6 “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.”

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

In your dead state the devil will keep you oppressed! He will keep you in darkness. That is what we call bondage. Brothers are we not all familiar with bondage? we know how devastating and how miserable being bound to sexual sins can be. For our sins (and the devil) is never satisfied. So when Jesus comes to you and calls you out of your tombs, and you climb out of your coffins and brings you into His wonderful light, the devil is and will be out on the prowl. It is for this reason that Jesus commanded us to “watch and pray lest we enter into temptation.” let us pray and seek Jesus, let us “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.(Rom 13:14)” for in Jesus we have a hope of rescue out of our temptations. Heb 2:18 “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” And Heb 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” then look at 1 Tim 2:5 “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,” which He enables us to fulfill these scriptures in Heb 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” & Heb 10:19 “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,”

Brothers, Jesus has called you from the dead. He has called out into a new life in Him. Then He tells us to pray! He tells us to seek Him with all our hearts, for He knows that our flesh is weak, and that our first nature is to sin and live in death. But this is not the life He desires for you. He desires a life of fullness as one with each other (you and Him as one). Do not be afraid of the devil or the life of bondage that you are in. Jesus is calling out to you! ARISE! COME OUT OF YOUR COFFIN! Leave your old life behind and walk in the newness of life in Jesus!

Your Brother in Christ

Nate Cook

Setting Captives Free Team Member