So are you saying that Christ's words (God's, btw) in calling Lazarus were powerless without another work of God first?
How does this not render Christ powerless?
They don't get it, to say a person must be made alive before he can hear God's word is also to say God does not have the power or ability to speak to the dead.
If I try to speak to a man who only speaks Chinese, who is unable? We BOTH are. I am unable to speak to him, and he is unable to hear me. If he attempts to speak to me it is the same, he is unable to speak to me, and I am unable to hear.
I am not speaking of making audible noise, I am speaking of communicating.
If the dead are unable to hear and understand what God says, then God is unable to communicate with them.
So, to say the dead cannot hear and understand God is to deny his power and ability to speak to them.