²⁵ “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.

¹⁴ for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said,

⁵ that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

²⁸ Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son,

²³ But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

The Message to the Church in Sardis

3 “Write this letter to the angel^[a] of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit^[b] of God and the seven stars:

⁴⁷ Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”

Made Alive with Christ

2 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.

⁴³ Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me!