REVIVAL IN DEM BONES
Lighthouse Worship Center Am Service
August 17, 2008 am
Do you ever have times when it seems like God is on the other side of the universe? Times when it seems God’s not hearing you or your prayers? There are times I feel like that! But when I do I remind myself, that no matter how I feel I know what God’s Word says & take solace in that! Notice what I said, “I TAKE SOLACE!” I don’t always find solace in that but I “TAKE” solace in that. I have to fight my flesh to “TAKE” what is mine!
QUESTION: Why do I feel like that sometimes? When I feel like that it’s because I feel “EMPTY INSIDE!” Do you ever feel “EMPTY INSIDE?” When I feel “EMPTY INSIDE” it’s because I feel “DEAD” in my spirit! GOD “DOES NOT” WANT US TO FEEL “EMPTY OR DEAD INSIDE!” That’s not what being a Child of God is about! Being a Child of God is about being ALIVE, VIBRANT, EXCITED, STANDING STRONG, HAVING POWER, JOY, DID I SAY ALIVE? I DID! LET ME SAY IT AGAIN! ALIVE!
Being a Child of God is about being “ALIVE! ALIVE IN HIM!” Scripture says in Acts 17:28
“For in Him we live & move & have our
being... for we are also His offspring.”
FOLK, IT’S IN “HIM” WE LIVE, MOVE & HAVE OUR BEING! ASK YOURSELF THIS MORNING! AM I ALIVE IN HIM? ASK YOURSELF! GO AHEAD & IF YOU CAN’T SAY THAT YOU “TRULY ARE”, BECAUSE BEING “ALIVE” IS VIBRANT, EXCITING, STANDING STRONG, HAVING POWER, OH, & MULTIPLYING! (LIVING THINGS PROCREATE!), THEN MAYBE YOU’RE NOT AS “ALIVE” AS YOU THINK OR MAYBE NOT AT ALL! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT BEING “ALIVE” THIS MORNING!
FOLK, YOU’RE CHILDREN OF GOD! THERE SHOULD BE AN “EXCITEMENT” ABOUT YOU THAT IS “CONTAGIOUS” WHEREVER YOU GO! IF NOT THEN AS RICKY RICARDO USED SAY...“LUCY! YOU GOT SOME SPLAININ TO DO LUCY!”
In Ezekiel 37:1-10 (read), God took Ezekiel to the “VALLEY OF DRY BONES!” They had some “SPLAININ TO DO” as well. THEY WERE DRY, & BLEACHED in the sun, they had NO LIFE, NO EXCITEMENT, NO VIBRANCY, NO JOY, NO STRENGTH, & NO POWER! THEY WERE DEAD!
But, hear me! The story is not really of “DRY BONES & DEATH!” But of “REVIVAL!” Those Bones were “DEAD & BLEACHED” picked clean of their “MUSCLES & SINEW” they were “SCATTERED”, & they had “NO UNITY!” They were bones of a “DEAD BEATEN ARMY” who were then “REVIVED TO LIFE!”, TO EXCITEMENT, TO VIBRANCY, TO JOY, TO STRENGTH, & TO POWER!
WE’RE NOT TOLD HOW THEY DIED BUT WE ARE TOLD HOW THEY CAME TO LIFE!
God takes Ezekiel out to this “VALLEY OF DRY BONES” in the Spirit & makes him pass over them, so he sees them in their entirety & he sees that they’re great in number & Ezekiel says they “...WERE VERY DRY!”
I believe Ezekiel recognized them as a “FORMER GREAT ARMY”, even as a former great army of the Children of Israel! THE ONLY FORMER THING I WANT TO BE IS A FORMER SINNER!
Even God speaks fo them as Ezekiel saw them, for God says in verse #12...
“...BEHOLD, O, MY PEOPLE...”
GOD SPEAKS TO EZEKIEL & ASKS HIM:
I. CAN THESE DRY BONES LIVE?
Even God recognized that the bones were “DEAD” when He asked him that question! I imagine that Ezekiel was moved but maybe not all that much. Don’t get me wrong! Ezekiel was a man of God! He knew that if “GOD CHOSE” the dry bones could & would live again. But he knew that only God could really know that or could really do that!
Ezekiel says to God, “GOD ONLY YOU KNOW!” & GOD DID KNOW! God KNEW THAT THOSE DRY BONES COULD LIVE AGAIN! But did the “DRY BONES KNOW” THEY COULD LIVE AGAIN? THAT IS THE GREAT QUESTION! But if the “DRY BONES” could talk they would tell you that “THEY WANTED TO LIVE AGAIN!”
DRY BONES CAN’T TALK BUT THEY HAVE A “VOICE” THAT IS “DEAFENING!” THEY HAVE A “VOICE THAT “ROARS” IN THE “MIDST OF SILENCE!”
KIND OF LIKE SOME CHURCHES! THE “SILENCE” IN A “DRY, DEAD, BONEY” CHURCH IS “DEAFENING!”
OH, FOLK, WHERE THERE IS “LIFE” THERE IS “NOISE!” LITTLE KACI MAKES SO MUCH NOISE AROUND OUR HOUSE SHE SQUEALS WITH “EXCITEMENT & JOY, TEARS & ANGER” & IT IS THE “NOISE OF LIFE!” WE NEED SOME “NOISE” AROUND HERE! SOME “NOISE OF LIFE!”
II. PROPHESY TO THEM
God tells Ezekiel in verse #4
“DRY BONES, HEAR THE WORD OF GOD!”
Thru God’s spoken word to Ezekiel He told them to “LISTEN! PAY ATTENTION! RECEIVE & DO WHAT THE WORD SAID!”
BUT, THE DRY BONES HAD A “RESPONSIBILITY!” FOLK, WE HAVE A
“RESPONSIBILITY” IN OUR GETTING REVIVAL! AS HE SPOKE & TOLD THEM TO
“HEAR” THEY HAD THE “BREATH OF LIFE BREATHED” INTO THEM! GOD SAID TO EZEKIEL IF HE’D PROPHESY & SAY TO THEM, “DRY BONES, HEAR THE WORD OF GOD!”
GOD THEN SAYS TO EZEKIEL...
“I WILL CAUSE BREATH TO ENTER YOU & YOU SHALL LIVE!”
BUT THEY HAD TO “HEAR!” WHEN GOD SPEAKS & WE DON’T “HEAR” THEN WE’LL NEVER HAVE “REVIVAL!” HEARING INDICATES “LISTENING & RESPONDING!”
WE HAVE TO “RESPOND” TO THE WORD OF GOD, PREACHED, SPOKEN & TAUGHT!
EZEKIEL SPEAKS WHAT GOD TELLS HIM TO SPEAK! & THEN THERE WAS A “NOISE” & A “RATTLING!” A LOUD “RATTLING NOISE!” IT WAS THE “RATTLING NOISE” OF THE BONES COMING BACK INTO UNITY!
IT WAS THE NOISE OF THE BONES COMING “BACK TO GOD!” & GETTING “REVIVED OR REVIVAL!” OH, FOLK, WHERE THERE IS LIFE THERE IS “NOISE!”
EARLIER I SAID KACI, MY GRAND DAUGHTER MAKES SO MUCH “NOISE!” SHE SQUEALS WITH EXCITEMENT & JOY & IT IS THE “NOISE OF LIFE!”
SOMETIMES SHE MAKES “NOISE” IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WHEN WE’RE TRYING TO SLEEP! SOMETIMES SHE MAKES “NOISE” DURING THE MORNING & THE AFTERNOON! SOMETIMES THE “NOISE” SHE MAKES IS BECAUSE SHE WANTS SOMETHING & IT’S NOT A PLEASANT “NOISE” BUT IT IS THE “NOISE OF LIFE!” WE NEED SOME “NOISE” AROUND HERE! SOME “NOISE OF LIFE!”
SOMETIMES THE “NOISE” SHE MAKES IS NOT AT A “CONVENIENT TIME!” IT MAKES ME THINK THAT SOMETIMES PEOPLE ONLY WANT “NOISE” WHEN IT’S “CONVENIENT!” THE KIND OF NOISE I SPEAK OF IS NOT “DISRUPTIVE” BUT IT IS “COMPELLING!” IT IS “LIVING!”
WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS SOME ONLY WANT “NOISE” DURING CHURCH & NOT AT “HOME” ON THEIR OWN SEEKING GOD! THEY ONLY WANT THAT “NOISE” WHEN IT’S “CONVENIENT” TO THEM & THEIR LIFE STYLES! FOLK, GOD WANTS OUR ATTENTION NOT ONLY IN CHURCH BUT AT HOME, ON THE JOB, DRIVING IN TOWN, WHILE SHOPPING ETC.
THE “VALLEY OF DRY BONES” DIDN’T MAKE ANY “NOISE” AT ALL ON THEIR OWN UNTIL GOD MOVED ON THEM, BUT I’LL BET THAT THEY MADE “NOISE” AFTERWARDS CONVENIENT OR NOT!
III. THAT THEY MAY LIVE
THIS WHOLE PASSAGE SPEAKS OF “REVIVAL!” EVERYTHING ABOUT IT SPEAKS OF “REVIVAL!” PEOPLE WHO WERE “DEAD” NOW COMING TO “LIFE!”
2 QUESTIONS: WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF EZEKIEL REFUSED TO DO WHAT GOD SAID? & WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THE DRY BONES DIDN’T RESPOND TO WHAT GOD SAID!
ANSWER: “NOTHING!” NOTHING WOULD HAVE HAPPENED! THEY WOULD HAVE REMAINED THERE DEAD! THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN RAISED UP & “REVIVAL” WOULD NOT HAVE COME TO THE “VALLEY OF DRY BONES!”
FOLK, IF WE DON’T “RESPOND” TO THE WORD OF GOD THEN “REVIVAL” WILL NOT COME! WE NEED “REVIVAL” IN OUR HEARTS & IN OUR CHURCH! WE NEED A MOVE OF GOD THAT WILL “BREATH THE BREATH OF LIFE” INTO US, THAT WILL CAUSE “SINEWS, FLESH & SKIN” TO COME UPON US SPIRITUALLY!
IV. I WILL...PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU & YOU SHALL LIVE!
FOLK, “WE NEED” WHAT THE “DRY BONES” GOT THAT DAY! WE NEED “REVIVAL” TO MOVE AMONG US, CHANGING OUR HEARTS FIRST, OUR LIVES, THEN OUR CHURCH!
Can these dry bones live? “YES!” He Prophesied to them the Word of God! You must hear the Word of God & “RESPOND” to that word in order to “LIVE AGAIN!”
What do we need more than anything in our lives? WE NEED "REVIVAL!"
"REVIVAL” COMES TO THOSE THAT NEED “REVIVING!” COULD WE BE DEAD FOR THE MOST PART? COULD IT BE THAT WE’VE DIED & DON’T KNOW IT? ARE WE JUST A BUNCH OF “DRIED, BLEACHED BONES” LAYING IN THE “FIELD OF LIFE?” NOT MOVING FORWARD BUT FALLING BACKWARDS, NOT “AFFECTING” LIVES OF OTHERS BECAUSE WE’RE “UNAFFECTED OURSELVES & DEAD IN OURSELVES!”
WHAT DOES REVIVAL BRING? IT BRINGS LIFE! IT BRINGS NOISE! THE NOISE OF LIFE!
HOW DOES IT COME? BY THE WORD OF GOD! BY “RESPONDING” TO THE WORD OF GOD!
& NOT A FEEL GOOD RESPONSE, BUT I MEAN A “DECIDEDLY & DEDICATED” RESPONSE TO THE WORD!
WHAT HAPPENED WITH EZEKIEL? GOD ASKED HIM IF THOSE DEAD DRY BONES COULD LIVE AGAIN! HE SAID TO GOD, “YOU KNOW!” IF GOD WERE TO ASK ME I’D SAY TO HIM “YES! YOU KNOW GOD!” GOD TOLD HIM TO PROPHESY/SPEAK/PREACH TO THE DEAD DRY BONES! GOD SAID FOR HIM TO TELL THEM TO “HEAR” THE WORD OF GOD!
FOLK, HEARING IS MORE THAN JUST HEARING! HEARING IS RESPONDING, ACTING UPON, TAKING WITHIN ONE’S BOSOM, INTO ONE’S HEART, INTO ONE’S SPIRIT!
THOSE DRY BONES NEEDED TO “GET” WHAT THEY COULD NOT “GET” ON THEIR OWN! THEY NEEDED “DONE” FOR THEM WHAT THEY COULD NOT “DO” ON THEIR OWN! THEY NEEDED A “MOVE OF GOD” TO “REVIVE” THEM TO LIFE! WE NEED A “MOVE OF GOD” TO “REVIVE” US TO LIFE ONCE AGAIN IN OUR HEARTS, SPIRITS & CHURCH!
I SAID THE DRY BONES “DIDN’T HAVE A VOICE TO CRY OUT” BUT “WE DO” HAVE A VOICE TO CRY OUT! FOLK, WE NEED TO “CRY OUT” TO GOD FOR “REVIVAL!” “REVIVAL” IN OUR SPIRITS, “REVIVAL” IN OUR HEARTS, “REVIVAL” IN OUR HOMES, “REVIVAL” IN OUR FAMILIES, “REVIVAL” IN OUR CHURCH, “REVIVAL” IN OUR COMMUNITY!
CAN THESE “DRY BONES” LIVE AGAIN? “YES! YES THEY CAN LIVE AGAIN!” WILL YOU LIVE AGAIN?
CONCLUSION:
COME DOWN TO THESE ALTARS LET’S “CRY OUT FOR REVIVAL” IN OUR “DRY BONES” THAT “WE MAY LIVE AGAIN!”
FOR THE “DRY BONES” TO BE REVIVED IT TOOK GOD, HIS WORD & THEIR RESPONSE!
GOD CARED, HIS WORD INSPIRED LIFE & THE DRY BONES RESPONDED!
REVIVAL CAME TO THE DRY BONES!
