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Daily Devotions
A systematic reading of the Scriptures, portioned to complement your daily time spent with God.Pastoral Letters
- Meditation
A weekly pastoral column that complements the pulpit messages and bimonthly theme. - Grace Works
A weekly pastoral letter to minister to young adults, inspired by the grace of God. - Youth Walk
A weekly pastoral letter written to encourage young people in their daily walk with God. - Parenting by the Book
A series from the Book of Proverbs that teaches us how to bring up children and build good Christian homes. Study Notes
- Morning Worship Messages
Message notes from every Sunday’s Morning Worship with a common bimonthly theme. - Evening-Bilingual Worship Messages
Message notes from every Sunday’s Evening-Bilingual Worship with a common bimonthly theme. - Prayer Meeting Notes
Notes from our weekly Monday Prayer Meetings - Bible Study Notes
Notes from our weekly Tuesday Bible Study - Senior Sunday School 4 Notes
Notes from Pastor Charles’ Sunday School class - Combined Sunday School Notes
Message notes from Combined Sunday School focusing on the Life and Teachings of Christ Jesus - Young Adults’ Group Messages
Message notes from our weekly Young Adults’ Group meetings. - Young People’s Group Messages
Message notes from our weekly Young People’s Group meetings. - Family Camp Messages
Message notes from our annual family camps where different themes are explored every year. - Spiritual & YAG Retreat Messages
Message notes from our biannual Spiritual & YAG Retreats that serve to instruct, correct and regenerate. - Youth Conference Messages
Message notes from our annual youth conferences where young people learn the relevance of faith. - Intermediate Sunday School
Message notes from the Intermediate Sunday School
Daily Devotions
Ephesians
"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)."
Text: Ephesians 2:4-5
A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF “SPIRITUAL DEATH”
How well do we understand the concept of being “dead in trespasses”? If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we do not fully comprehend this concept very well.
Perhaps the best way to understand spiritual death is to compare it with physical death. Though death must be understood as a normal feature of life, nevertheless it is always a time of immense sorrow. The Gospel of Luke records for us a moving story of the death of the son of a widow in the city of Nain (cf. Luke 7:11-16).
1. Death brings great sorrow
The fact that the lady mentioned in the story was called “a widow” implies that she had already experienced bereavement. And now she had lost her son to death as well. Who can imagine the double sorrow that this poor widow experienced? Her sorrow was felt and shared by many in the city of Nain. The bereavement of her only son signaled the onset of greater hardship and grief for the poor widow.
2. Help in the face of death
The funeral procession must have been so sad and dismal that the compassion of Jesus was stirred. The widow did not approach Jesus for assistance. To ask for help when a person has already died was preposterous! Jesus went toward the open coffin and then simply said,
“Young man, I say to you, arise.”
LUKE 7:14
Jesus did “the unthinkable and the impossible”. What happened next?
“So he who was dead set up and began to speak.
And He presented him to his mother.
Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying,
‘A great prophet has risen up among us’; and,
‘God has visited His people.'”
LUKE 7:15-16
The reaction of the crowd is perfectly understandable. It would take nothing less than the power of God to raise the dead.
RAISING OF THE SPIRITUALLY DEAD
The raising of the son of the widow was a special event. Though Jesus did raise a few more from the dead, the greater perspective and goal would be to raise the spiritually dead. Did great gladness fill the heart of the widow and her son when they were reunited as a family? We can imagine the tremendous surge of joy that filled their hearts that wonderful day when Jesus walked in the city streets of Nain.
The raising of those who were “dead in trespasses” is no less significant. Our comprehension of what it means to be raised from the dead must cause us to feel a great sense of “fear” (Cf. Luke 7:16a). If God is into raising the spiritual dead, then He has indeed truly visited us.”
“BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED”
Paul felt that he just had to add a parenthetical remark as he thought about this great work of God in raising the dead. We have been gloriously saved by grace indeed!