Light the Fire
TEXT Ezek 37:1-14
The world is looking for God. Tragically and ironically they are looking in the wrong places. Sadly, as the world is looking for God, God’s people are asleep in their pews, asleep in religious traditions, lethargy and slothfulness .
CHURCH, IT IS TIME FOR REVIVAL!
We get what we pay for.
People today want revival without paying for it.
The cost of God’s super natural power moving in us and among us is so high that we feel it’s not worth all the effort to have it.
The spiritual needs of the world is great. Let me give you a list.
The world needs to know “how to” come to God and worship Him. The world needs to recognize the voice of God.
The world needs models of authentic Christian living. The world needs to see God in the lives of faithful Christians.
The world is being saturated with the word of God through all kinds of media but like the food that we eat, it does us no good until we get it inside of us.
The world needs to witness the power of God being demonstrated in the lives of people with an intimate relationship with Jesus. They need to know that God can solve their problems, meet thier physical, emotional, social and financial needs.
They need to be taught that “....seeking the kingdom and his righteousness, is how they get their needs met.
As I have informed you about what the needs of the world are, I believe that the church also has a great need.
Amidst all the prosperity in our nation today, there is a great famine in our land today and that is of God’s people personally communicating the Word of God to people lost or saved.
I think that we need a revelation of Christ, greater than we’ve ever had before.
We must have a revival of sincere repentance of sin.
Listen to 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves (the church today is too proud–the church should not led by outstanding people but by kneeling people) and pray and seek my face (we must hunger for God more than for food, entertainment or self satisfaction) and turn from their wicked ways, (not halfway, each one of us must repent, confess, be baptized, and be restored) then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
God will bring revival to our land, our people, the church, if we humble ourselves, pray and turn from our wicked ways. Church, it is time for revival!
God gives us a Visual Aid of Revival.
Ezekiel is a man of God confronted with a congregation of God’s people who are discouraged, displaced and spiritually dead. The circumstances were ripe for revival. As I believe that they are today.
God took Ezekiel to a mountaintop and gave him a visual aid of revival.
Ezek 37:1-14
37 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
“Can these bones live again?”
Can we have revival again?
Revival is the process of bringing to life that which once was alive, but is now at the point of death. “Can these bones live again?”
Ezekiel obeyed God, preached to those dry bones and then God breathed his spirit back into their bodies, God revived for himself a mighty army.
Today churches are full of people, but many are empty of God.
Too many of God’s people have a self–serving spirit, an apathetic heart, and a dead disobedient lifestyle. Can these bones live again?
Why is it that we have people coming to church more, but experiencing it less? They come with sin in their lives and then go back home with sin in their lives. They are spiritual corpses, dry bones.
How do you identify deadness in your spiritual life?
1. When there is no desire for Bible study and prayer.
2. When spiritual conversation embarrasses you or is avoided.
3. When you rationalize sin.
4. When you can quote scripture and attend service, but it doesn’t make a difference in your life.
5. When you life revolves around money.
6. When it no longer bothers you that others are in misery and spiritually lost.
7. When worship and service to God does not excite you.
8. When you don’t have blessed assurance.
Lord, help us light the fire again.
A closer look at these dry bones reveal that they were dried out by the sun and wind.
Is the church suffering from the effects of modern society? Yes, more than we realize.
Christian behavior today is so closely aligned with the behavior of the world that the world sees Christianity as a preference rather than the means to life.
The world has idols, Christians have idols, but what’s troubling is that not many worldling have Christian idols but most Christians have a portfolio full of worldly idols.
We idolize sports stars and movie stars and secular music stars who are sexually immoral, drug addicts and who are involved in cults.
When I talk about idolizing, I mean copying conduct, clothing, and verbiage.
Have we been dried out by the elements? Television, Internet, and many other forms of entertainment have drying effects.
Though the bones were located in one valley they were scattered.
Is the church one body as God would have it, though we come together under one roof, are we separated by conflict?
Do we even care where we are spiritually?
Can these bones live again?
Revival comes through prayer. 2 Chron. 7:14
Ezekiel preached to dry bones and they lived!
It was not his power, it was the power of God’s word working in those dry, dead bones.
Revival comes through responding to the Word of God.
“Those that do as commanded in the face of the greatest discouragement’s, need not doubt success, for God will own and enrich his own appointments.” Matthew Henry
The dry bones came to life, not only when Ezekiel obeyed God’s command, but when dry bones also obeyed God’ command.
They that were once dead were made new.
Even dead, dry bones were moved when they heard the word of God.
How can we revive?
You light the fire.
Fire can be;
1. Started-1 match can start a great fire. 1 person can start a great revival.
2. Controlled-Once that we are blazing we let the Holy Spirit lead and guide us.
3. Contained-Burn in the area of ministry that God has placed you in.
4. Extinguished-Through carelessness.
5. Can be restarted-Through repentance and a new commitment.
Recognize the dryness of your bones.
Obey the Holy Ghost as He moves on you this morning.
Honest confession of sin. We cannot be right with God with wrongs in our life.
Rejoice in your restoration and engage in passionate worship once again.
Results of Revival
The Rekindling of a passion for lost souls. Psalm 51:12–13
A new commitment, a renewed hunger for God, a new zeal.
A relentless pursuit of the baptism in the Holy Ghost power in your life.
Illustration: Robert Robinson, in 1758, wrote the song, “O Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” He later fell away from the faith. He met a young lady singing his song. She, noting his sadness, wanted to share the lyrics with him. Robinson responded, “Madam, I wrote the song and I’d give a thousand worlds to have that feeling once again.” The psalmist expresses the same in Psalm 85:6, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”
The answer is that, God will if we will.
