WEBVTT 00:00:11.920 --> 00:00:18.239 What if the most provocative, mysterious miracle 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:22.899 in the Bible didn't happen in a cathedral or 00:00:22.899 --> 00:00:27.019 even in a synagogue, but in a burial gone wrong, 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:31.449 tossed in haste? forgotten by men but remembered 00:00:31.449 --> 00:00:35.990 by God. In this week's episode, we crack open 00:00:35.990 --> 00:00:39.710 a strange little story in 2 Kings 13, one where 00:00:39.710 --> 00:00:42.789 a dead man touches the bones of a long -gone 00:00:42.789 --> 00:00:49.070 prophet and rises. No altar call, no music swell, 00:00:49.210 --> 00:00:53.009 no faith, just contact with what used to carry 00:00:53.009 --> 00:00:57.289 the Spirit. He didn't ask, didn't believe, didn't 00:00:57.289 --> 00:01:00.240 even know it was happening. The Spirit moved 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:05.780 anyway. And maybe that's the point. Maybe this 00:01:05.780 --> 00:01:08.760 story was whispered into Scripture for all the 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:12.900 folks who've run out of prayers. For the ones 00:01:12.900 --> 00:01:15.040 buried under the weight of too much life, too 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:21.219 much failure, too much silence. For the ones 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:23.500 who wonder if God still works miracles when the 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:25.439 prophets are long gone and the temple's been 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:29.299 looted. This miracle is not the headline. It's 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:32.819 barely even a footnote. Sometimes the most important 00:01:32.819 --> 00:01:37.099 truths are the ones hidden in the margins. Because 00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:41.980 if God can bring life through dry bones, if the 00:01:41.980 --> 00:01:45.680 Spirit can resurrect what's already buried, maybe 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:49.659 grace doesn't need your consent. Maybe it just 00:01:49.659 --> 00:01:53.510 needs to crack in a tube. Hey, I'm Pastor Jim. 00:01:53.590 --> 00:01:55.650 This is the Seminary Seminary, and where even 00:01:55.650 --> 00:01:58.769 the forgotten stories still preach, and the spirit 00:01:58.769 --> 00:02:01.329 ain't done yet. So, pull up a chair, friend, 00:02:01.510 --> 00:02:05.650 and let's see what rises. I'll see you on the 00:02:05.650 --> 00:02:14.310 other side. Okay, well, let me get started here. 00:02:15.830 --> 00:02:20.930 I wanted to open up the discussion. discussion 00:02:20.930 --> 00:02:25.789 tonight with this um well i wonder if you ever 00:02:25.789 --> 00:02:28.189 wonder like the way i wonder because sometimes 00:02:28.189 --> 00:02:31.530 i don't know if you ever like read your bible 00:02:31.530 --> 00:02:35.650 and you think you read like oh the red sea story 00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:40.530 or the burning bush story or david and goliath 00:02:40.530 --> 00:02:46.270 and sometimes like contextualizing those events 00:02:46.270 --> 00:02:50.289 in our lives are difficult because It's hard 00:02:50.289 --> 00:02:54.330 for me sometimes to imagine because I've never 00:02:54.330 --> 00:02:58.129 seen God do things like that in the world. Don't 00:02:58.129 --> 00:03:00.030 get me wrong, I've witnessed miracles and I've 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:02.270 seen the Spirit move, but I'm talking about like 00:03:02.270 --> 00:03:06.090 the burning bush moment, right? The pillar of 00:03:06.090 --> 00:03:09.710 cloud and the fire to lead the people kind of 00:03:09.710 --> 00:03:13.150 moment. And I think that there are a lot of people 00:03:13.150 --> 00:03:15.810 that struggle with that, sometimes to the point 00:03:15.810 --> 00:03:19.169 that they rationalize these stories away to be... 00:03:19.629 --> 00:03:24.090 Oh, I don't know, maybe even part myth. If nothing 00:03:24.090 --> 00:03:28.189 else, people will think, what do those old miracles 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:33.330 have to do with me? God doesn't work that way 00:03:33.330 --> 00:03:38.069 in the world anymore. And if that's you, then 00:03:38.069 --> 00:03:42.530 this word is for you. Because God isn't finished 00:03:42.530 --> 00:03:46.189 even when we think that it's over. And the story 00:03:46.189 --> 00:03:48.800 we're going to talk about tonight is a guy. who 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.300 didn't pray, didn't plan, didn't even speak, 00:03:52.500 --> 00:03:57.379 and still got raised from the dead. Grace caught 00:03:57.379 --> 00:04:01.580 him mid -fall. It's a story for anyone who feels 00:04:01.580 --> 00:04:05.560 buried by life, haunted by time, or maybe too 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:08.780 late to be called alive again. And more than 00:04:08.780 --> 00:04:11.159 anything, it's a story about God's power still 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:15.819 moving even when all we see are dry bones. Now, 00:04:15.819 --> 00:04:20.269 I'll also wager that... At the end of this discussion, 00:04:20.449 --> 00:04:23.490 most of you will probably go, man, that guy really 00:04:23.490 --> 00:04:26.949 knows his Bible. And I'll be like, thanks, I 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:31.670 don't. So let me ask you something honest tonight. 00:04:33.129 --> 00:04:37.149 Where have you been seeing just dry bones? Where 00:04:37.149 --> 00:04:41.430 before you saw God alive and moving? Your marriage, 00:04:41.529 --> 00:04:45.319 your prayer life? The dream you used to carry 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:47.879 about your personal ministry or your music or 00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:52.819 your calling or the church or America. Some of 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:55.639 us remember what it felt like one time to be 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:59.420 full of fire, full of trust, full of God. But 00:04:59.420 --> 00:05:01.819 lately, when we look out over that place, we 00:05:01.819 --> 00:05:05.990 just see dust. Maybe we think we're being realistic. 00:05:06.149 --> 00:05:09.449 Maybe we're calling it maturity now, but the 00:05:09.449 --> 00:05:13.069 truth is we've stopped believing God still moves 00:05:13.069 --> 00:05:16.689 in that place. Tonight, we're going to go to 00:05:16.689 --> 00:05:19.970 a graveyard in 2 Kings, and in that graveyard, 00:05:20.290 --> 00:05:25.870 God refuses to play dead. Okay, so you guys have 00:05:25.870 --> 00:05:27.670 to stick with the history lesson before we get 00:05:27.670 --> 00:05:29.269 to the other part, because it's important to 00:05:29.269 --> 00:05:32.370 understand what's happening when this is happening. 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:36.240 By the time we get to 2 Kings chapter 13, Israel 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:40.100 is gasping for air. The kingdom has split. There 00:05:40.100 --> 00:05:43.180 are the northern tribes have turned their backs 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:47.220 on God, trusting in politics and idols and compromise. 00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:52.879 Jerash is on the throne. He's not a godly king. 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:56.949 He's not a good king, just a placeholder. and 00:05:56.949 --> 00:05:59.850 a long line of disappointing king after disappointing 00:05:59.850 --> 00:06:04.689 king after disappointing king. And Elisha, the 00:06:04.689 --> 00:06:08.610 prophet who once carried Elijah's mantle, who 00:06:08.610 --> 00:06:11.470 once stood in the power against kings and armies, 00:06:11.529 --> 00:06:15.589 is now on his deathbed. And when he finally dies, 00:06:15.810 --> 00:06:18.850 it feels like somehow it's the end of the line. 00:06:19.730 --> 00:06:24.370 The last prophet of fire was gone. The silence 00:06:24.370 --> 00:06:30.079 is deafening. And it won't be broken for a long 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:36.699 time. In fact, it will be roughly 40 years before 00:06:36.699 --> 00:06:40.819 another prophet rises up and speaks again. And 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:43.540 that prophet will be Amos, and his words won't 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:45.839 be words of comfort. They'll be confrontation. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:49.740 He'll preach judgment against the northern kingdom. 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:56.720 The one that wants... leaned into Elisha's prayers. 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:00.500 So in this gap between Elisha and Amos, this 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:04.100 miracle in the graveyard is God's defiant whisper. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:08.439 Even now, I'm still here. Don't bury your hope 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:13.860 with the prophet. So he said, he said something 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:17.959 about the Bible. Let's get into it. Here's the 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:22.199 story. Second Kings chapter 13. 20 and 21, two 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:24.279 verses tonight for our Bible study, and that 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:28.660 is more than enough. So, the prophet Elijah. 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:35.040 Elijah died and was buried. Now, Moabite raiders 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:38.420 used to enter the country every spring. Once, 00:07:38.420 --> 00:07:42.300 while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:45.620 they saw a band of raiders, so they threw the 00:07:45.620 --> 00:07:51.100 man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body 00:07:51.100 --> 00:07:55.240 touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life 00:07:55.240 --> 00:08:04.459 and stood to his feet. Whoa. Let's not get caught 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:07.680 up in the emotion of it yet. That's for a second. 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:11.279 For the contemporary reader of this passage. 00:08:12.009 --> 00:08:15.129 For the person who would have unrolled the first 00:08:15.129 --> 00:08:18.769 scrolls and read this, if they could, whether 00:08:18.769 --> 00:08:21.769 they were hearing it still in exile in Babylon, 00:08:21.889 --> 00:08:25.829 or maybe they were rereading it in a makeshift 00:08:25.829 --> 00:08:29.910 synagogue centuries later, this moment would 00:08:29.910 --> 00:08:34.129 have rung in the ears of these hearers like a 00:08:34.129 --> 00:08:38.590 thunderclap. The story itself takes place in 00:08:38.590 --> 00:08:42.240 the past, like I was just mentioning. We're in 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:47.860 that same boat that they are. This story happens 00:08:47.860 --> 00:08:51.779 during the era of kings and prophets when God's 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:55.840 power often showed up in unmistakable ways, but 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.500 the earliest readers would have been living in 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:02.879 a very different time. Long after the monarchy 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:05.940 had crumbled, the temple had been destroyed, 00:09:06.019 --> 00:09:11.490 and prophetic voices have now grown silent. They 00:09:11.490 --> 00:09:14.289 did not read this like a newsflash. They read 00:09:14.289 --> 00:09:18.789 it like a memory. And yet, even though it was 00:09:18.789 --> 00:09:22.970 history, it confronted their present with a single 00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:29.309 haunting question. Could God still move now, 00:09:29.450 --> 00:09:36.690 even here? There's only one other comparable 00:09:36.690 --> 00:09:40.590 event. Same kind of thing in the whole of Hebrew 00:09:40.590 --> 00:09:44.450 Scripture, the Old Testament. And it happens 00:09:44.450 --> 00:09:49.250 when a dead boy is raised through Elijah's intercession. 00:09:49.830 --> 00:09:54.809 In 1 Kings 17, right, we read about him laying 00:09:54.809 --> 00:09:58.009 on a boy and bringing him back to life. But our 00:09:58.009 --> 00:10:02.950 story about Elisha and this man, this isn't like 00:10:02.950 --> 00:10:06.059 Elijah. This isn't a prophet. Praying, laying 00:10:06.059 --> 00:10:10.039 on hands, pleading with God. This is a body thrown. 00:10:10.779 --> 00:10:15.279 This is unintentional resurrection. It's bizarre, 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:19.539 jarring, and according to Old Testament scripture, 00:10:19.779 --> 00:10:25.240 utterly unique. It tells the people, these readers, 00:10:26.409 --> 00:10:29.850 They no more have a temple. They no more have 00:10:29.850 --> 00:10:32.789 prophets. No more king worth mentioning. God 00:10:32.789 --> 00:10:38.350 is not confined to what you've lost. And here's 00:10:38.350 --> 00:10:40.769 what that would have meant to the earliest readers, 00:10:41.009 --> 00:10:44.710 the folks who picked up the scroll. Maybe, maybe 00:10:44.710 --> 00:10:47.649 still in Babylon, back in Jerusalem perhaps, 00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:51.610 with half -built city walls and shattered confidence. 00:10:52.549 --> 00:10:55.830 And these weren't theologians. They were refugees 00:10:55.830 --> 00:11:00.850 or returnees trying to remember how to worship. 00:11:02.590 --> 00:11:05.590 When they looked up from this story, they didn't 00:11:05.590 --> 00:11:09.169 see thrones or altars or armies. They saw ruins. 00:11:10.450 --> 00:11:13.269 And they weren't reading the morning paper again. 00:11:13.350 --> 00:11:15.669 They were reading what they understood to be 00:11:15.669 --> 00:11:20.070 sacred history. This story, Elisha, took place... 00:11:20.250 --> 00:11:26.110 generations before the earliest readers. In fact, 00:11:26.409 --> 00:11:30.929 when that time, when it still felt like God moved, 00:11:31.269 --> 00:11:34.429 now they're living in the aftermath, after the 00:11:34.429 --> 00:11:38.029 fall, after the exile, after our temple has been 00:11:38.029 --> 00:11:41.370 leveled to the ground, and into that silence, 00:11:41.710 --> 00:11:46.730 they read this old story of a man being raised 00:11:46.730 --> 00:11:51.639 by the bones of a prophet. To them, it would 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:54.419 have sounded like thunder rolling out of their 00:11:54.419 --> 00:11:59.799 memory. Because God wasn't just reminding them 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:04.360 of what used to happen. He was reminding them 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:08.460 that he still could and he still would. That 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:13.700 even buried faith can breathe again. This wasn't 00:12:13.700 --> 00:12:17.379 nostalgia. This was permission to hope again. 00:12:18.409 --> 00:12:22.049 This was divine disruption to shake up their 00:12:22.049 --> 00:12:25.370 assumptions, to stir their imaginations, and 00:12:25.370 --> 00:12:28.750 reopen their hearts for the actual possibility 00:12:28.750 --> 00:12:32.570 that God might show up and work in their lives, 00:12:32.750 --> 00:12:38.090 even now. They saw neighbors who spoke foreign 00:12:38.090 --> 00:12:41.370 tongues. They saw dust in the air and doubt in 00:12:41.370 --> 00:12:44.850 their bones. And this story dared them. And friends, 00:12:45.049 --> 00:12:49.730 it dares us. To believe that even when the temple 00:12:49.730 --> 00:12:53.090 is gone, even when the land is occupied, even 00:12:53.090 --> 00:12:55.669 when the kings have failed and the prophets are 00:12:55.669 --> 00:13:00.269 silent, even then, the God of Israel is not done 00:13:00.269 --> 00:13:04.710 yet. It dares us to believe that even bones can 00:13:04.710 --> 00:13:10.110 preach, even ruins can rattle back to life. This 00:13:10.110 --> 00:13:15.159 is not your average graveyard service. No eulogy, 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:19.240 no casseroles, just panic and prophecy. These 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:21.620 folks trying to bury a man with raiders on their 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:24.559 heels. So they just toss him into the nearest 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:29.620 tomb, which happens to be Elisha's. And the second 00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:32.820 that that dead body touches the old prophet's 00:13:32.820 --> 00:13:37.779 bones, resurrection. No altar call, no choir. 00:13:38.990 --> 00:13:42.769 Just the holy leftovers of a faithful life lighting 00:13:42.769 --> 00:13:46.730 the spark of God's power again. This miracle 00:13:46.730 --> 00:13:50.350 isn't just about the one man. In fact, it's not 00:13:50.350 --> 00:13:55.870 about the man at all. It's a signal flare in 00:13:55.870 --> 00:14:01.470 the middle of a very spiritually dark time. Let's 00:14:01.470 --> 00:14:03.590 make some other biblical connections, though, 00:14:03.649 --> 00:14:07.799 for fun. Let's go to Ezekiel 37. That might be 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:09.460 where you might have thought I was going in the 00:14:09.460 --> 00:14:11.700 beginning, but I know you already know that story. 00:14:12.259 --> 00:14:15.340 God brings Ezekiel to a valley full of bones. 00:14:16.779 --> 00:14:23.639 Ezekiel 3, sorry, Ezekiel 37 and 3. Son of man, 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:27.279 can these bones live? Ezekiel replies, sovereign 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:32.460 Lord, you alone know. Then God tells him to speak. 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:36.299 Ezekiel 37 and 5, this is what the sovereign 00:14:36.299 --> 00:14:39.179 Lord says to these bones, I will make breath 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:42.759 enter you and you will come to life. That vision 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:47.460 came during Israel's exile, another era in their 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:50.700 existence where everything had seemed lost. And 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:54.759 still God says, speak to the bones, prophesy 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:58.879 to the graveyard. In both Ezekiel and Elisha's 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:02.080 day, God's people needed to be reminded, I still 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:07.220 breathe where you see nothing but dust. And let's 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:10.740 talk about Jesus and the four -day dead. In John 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:14.299 11, Jesus delays after hearing Lazarus is sick. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.679 He waits on purpose. By the time he arrives, 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:22.299 Lazarus has been dead four days. John 11, 21, 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:25.919 Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.360 my brother would not have died. 11 and 25, Jesus 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:33.820 said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:15:34.779 --> 00:15:37.919 Here's something important to know about Jewish 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:42.019 tradition. It's common belief in the first century 00:15:42.019 --> 00:15:45.840 that a person's soul lingered near the body for 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:49.899 three days. But on the fourth day, the soul departed 00:15:49.899 --> 00:15:54.039 for good. So when Jesus shows up after four days, 00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:57.919 it's not just a physical resurrection. It's a 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:02.340 challenge to despair itself. It says, even when 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:06.940 you have believed it's beyond hope, I will still 00:16:06.940 --> 00:16:10.279 speak life. And that, friends, brings us right 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:14.279 back to Elisha's tomb, to the bones that shouldn't 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:21.269 breathe but do. So, why does God raise an unnamed 00:16:21.269 --> 00:16:26.470 man in a panicked burial in 2 Kings? Why not 00:16:26.470 --> 00:16:29.629 wait for something big, something cleaner, something 00:16:29.629 --> 00:16:36.110 more liturgically appropriate? Because this moment 00:16:36.110 --> 00:16:38.990 wasn't about neat theology or spiritual fireworks. 00:16:40.190 --> 00:16:44.159 It wasn't even about the guy. It was about a 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:46.700 nation that had stopped expecting God to show 00:16:46.700 --> 00:16:49.559 up and actually work in their lives. It was about 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:53.759 a people who had left hope sour into cynicism. 00:16:54.379 --> 00:16:57.000 It was about priests going through the motions, 00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:00.460 kings propping up politics instead of altars, 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:03.539 and prophets dying off one by one while the people 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:06.839 forgot what it felt like to be shaken by the 00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:10.890 Spirit. And right in the middle of all of that 00:17:10.890 --> 00:17:14.430 death and despair, God acts without permission, 00:17:14.650 --> 00:17:17.549 without planning, and like I mentioned earlier, 00:17:17.829 --> 00:17:21.849 without precedent. God took the bones of a buried 00:17:21.849 --> 00:17:24.230 prophet and made them preach one more sermon, 00:17:24.250 --> 00:17:30.349 not with words, but with life. It's as if the 00:17:30.349 --> 00:17:34.009 miracle itself shouts, even when you've given 00:17:34.009 --> 00:17:38.160 up, I have it. Even when you buried your faith 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:40.839 next to your disappointment, I'm still breathing. 00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:45.599 And even if all you see are bones, I still see 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:51.660 a body ready to rise. So let me step in a little 00:17:51.660 --> 00:17:55.519 closer here, friends. Because this isn't just 00:17:55.519 --> 00:18:01.960 a Bible study. It's a mirror. Where's your graveyard? 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:06.819 Where is the part of your life that used to hum 00:18:06.819 --> 00:18:10.500 with God's presence, but now it echoes with silence? 00:18:12.740 --> 00:18:15.119 Maybe it's your belief that prayer changes things. 00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:19.059 Maybe it's your conviction that's now shaken 00:18:19.059 --> 00:18:23.420 that God actually still heals. Isn't your calling 00:18:23.420 --> 00:18:26.079 the one you whispered about in your 20s but buried 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:30.640 in your 40s? Where have you traded faith for 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:35.359 familiarity, spirit for safety? expectancy for 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:39.460 exhaustion. Some of us have been dragging around 00:18:39.460 --> 00:18:42.660 spiritual corpses, marriages we won't bury but 00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:46.519 won't bless, ministries we resent but won't release, 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:50.339 grief we won't allow ourselves to grieve because 00:18:50.339 --> 00:18:53.079 we're afraid of what might wake up if we name 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:57.460 it. Here's the wild grace of the whole story. 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:02.880 You don't have to resurrect yourself. You might 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:06.440 just have to fall right into the presence of 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:10.559 God's former faithfulness, right into the bones 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:14.559 of someone who carried God before you, right 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:17.779 into legacy, memory, promise, power that's been 00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:20.740 resting beneath your surface of your life this 00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:24.339 whole entire time. And when you fall in faith, 00:19:24.500 --> 00:19:28.980 even accidentally, something might just stand 00:19:28.980 --> 00:19:32.700 up that you thought was dead. And don't miss 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:37.400 the deeper truth here, friends. God did not raise 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:41.140 this man because of his faith. He raised him 00:19:41.140 --> 00:19:45.640 because of Elisha's faithfulness. And that means 00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:51.059 you might rise. Not because you got it all right, 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:54.579 but because someone before you did, because your 00:19:54.579 --> 00:19:58.420 grandma prayed, because your pastor stayed, because 00:19:58.420 --> 00:20:00.359 the Holy Spirit doesn't need your perfect belief. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:04.980 It just needs a body to breathe into. So let 00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:08.539 me ask you, and this time, think. Answer with 00:20:08.539 --> 00:20:12.319 your whole heart. Where have you just been seeing 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:17.420 dry bones? Where you used to see God alive and 00:20:17.420 --> 00:20:22.460 moving? Because wherever that is, friends, that's 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:25.819 your tomb. And tonight, that's where the Spirit 00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:29.640 wants to breathe. Where have you just been seeing 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:31.880 dry bones where you used to see God alive and 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:36.380 moving? Maybe tonight, when you look again at 00:20:36.380 --> 00:20:41.119 that place, you won't just see the bones. You'll 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:46.079 see a God who still breathes. Amen? Amen. Thanks, 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:58.329 guys. Grace doesn't always wait on your altar 00:20:58.329 --> 00:21:01.650 call. Sometimes grace just stumbles into the 00:21:01.650 --> 00:21:04.950 grave you gave up on and whispers resurrection 00:21:04.950 --> 00:21:08.769 into the bones you've already buried. That man 00:21:08.769 --> 00:21:11.670 we find tonight in 2 Kings never spoke. He didn't 00:21:11.670 --> 00:21:14.589 breathe. He didn't believe. He just fell dead 00:21:14.589 --> 00:21:17.269 into the place where God's promise had once lived. 00:21:17.349 --> 00:21:23.109 And somehow, somehow, that was enough. Because... 00:21:23.819 --> 00:21:29.319 When the spirit moves, even tombs tremble. When 00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:31.859 God is still telling the story, silence becomes 00:21:31.859 --> 00:21:38.759 sermon and death becomes the footnote. So maybe 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:41.059 tonight the reminder is you don't need to perform 00:21:41.059 --> 00:21:44.920 or prove or plead. Maybe you just need to stop 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:48.799 running, stop pretending. Fall back into the 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:51.099 memory of when God used to move and trust that 00:21:51.099 --> 00:21:55.470 he still does. Because the same spirit that raised 00:21:55.470 --> 00:21:59.390 the dead in a panic, still roaming the graveyards, 00:21:59.390 --> 00:22:03.970 still speaking through bones, still waiting to 00:22:03.970 --> 00:22:08.049 bring you back to life. Thanks for listening 00:22:08.049 --> 00:22:10.529 to the Semi -Seminary. I'm your old buddy, Pastor 00:22:10.529 --> 00:22:14.430 Jim. And until next time, friend, be blessed. 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:32.380 Chapter 6. Therefore, he who is in the principles 00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:35.319 of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on...