A great resurrection will precede a great awakening. Many good and godly people whose effectiveness in God’s Kingdom had been diminished because they were taught a lesser purpose for their faith, will awaken and walk out from tombs of isolation and disengagement. As they leave the tombs their minds will have been renewed to see their role of engagement in the goal of the Great Commission – to make disciples of all nations. 

When Jesus died on the cross and breathed His last breath the curtain of the Temple was ripped in two and “The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people” (Matthew 27: 51-53).

I could not escape the image portrayed by those verses as I read through the book of Matthew this morning. It reveals what will happen in the coming days as the plots of hell to silence, muzzle, and isolate God’s people are exposed. The exposure will reveal that many believers have followed in undiscerning lockstep obedience a well-crafted lie that told them a follower of Christ is to be silent and isolated from the affairs of this life.

Apart from loving, serving, and healing people in need, there were two groups Jesus had to deal with on a regular basis – religious institutions and political systems that opposed His ministry. Jesus was never isolated from interacting with those groups, and neither will an expression of the Church that is fully alive and not entombed in a place of social disengagement. 

When this resurrection of thinking takes place a hidden army of overwhelming influence will be released into the streets of our nation. The coming resurrection of the Church will be a surprise and a shock to the influencers, both natural and spiritual influencers, who thought these newly resurrected ones would forever remain silent, disconnected, and entombed by misunderstanding and fear.