In most cases when we hear preaching from Ezekial 37 it is used to speak to us of the Power of God: Reviving, Resurrecting, Restoring.
It shows us how our God can move into the graveyard of our lives and resurrect dreams and visions, and how he can step into the middle of your chaos and confusion and he can bring order and peace.
We see God take nothing and through the process of hearing the Word of God and the operation of the HolySpirit turn nothing into something great and powerful. And we labor with great diligence and attention to detail to show how a valley full of dry, desolate, broken,separated, bones are transformed into the final product of a mighty army standing on their feet ready for service.
Then we close the bible and shout about the miracle in the valley of dry bones, and then go home.
But I want to start this message where we usually quit.
I don’t want to preach about the dry bones and I’m not here to prophesy to dry bones tonight, but (I am here to prophesy to the army of God.)
I want to prophesy to that group of men and women, and young men and and women from every nation, every station and every condition and circumstance of life that God has called and anointed and appointed for such a time as this.
I’m not speaking tonight to the depressed and distressed, I’m not speaking to the fretful and fearful, and I’m not speaking to the wounded and worried.
I don’t mean to sound cynical or uncaring, because I do care but God has focused my spirit on another class of people tonight.
My assignment tonight is not to the dry bones, but to the Army of God.
There’s not that many in contrast to the valley of dry bones, but in every city, in every church there are a select few that have answered the call of the Spirit to come up to a higher place and live on a higher plane.
I’m talking about the Army of the Lord.
They are a rare breed of people who have learned to be soldiers.
We’ve got a lot of Saints in the church, but we don’t have a lot of Soldiers.
We have a lot of Saints holding the fort, but we don’t have many Soldiers possessing the land.
God said: It’s time for the Army of the Lord to come to attention, The adversity is great the conditions are hard but we were bred for the battle) We are Armed and Dangerous.
Yes there will always be dry bones that need a prophet who will see the plan of God and prophesy and bring restoration and transformation .
But God told me tonight: Not to prophesy to the dry bones, but to prophesy to his Army.
I’m here to prophesy to you the Army of God and God said to tell you that this is your Hour of Power.
God said he raised you up out of the valley of dry bones.
He said he has brought divine order into your life, he said he has strengthened you and nourished you by his word, and the wind of his Spirit has filled your lives and stood you up on your feet and now it’s time for you to fulfill your purpose.
You are Gods hands and feet in the earth, you are the agents of change and deliverance in the earth.
It was said of the early church: They have turned the world upside down.
It was Gods mighty power flowing through yielded vessels that threw down satan’s strongholds and raised up and established the kingdom of God.
The Baton has been passed, The mantle has fallen upon this generation, the mantle has fallen upon us. (Smith Wigglesworth is not here any more, Charles Finney and John Wesley, and Maria Woodworth Etter and Many other great Men and Women of God are not here any more) It’s our turn now to pick up the banner and run with it.
We are those who have been anointed to break through and set the captives free, we are anointed to bring deliverance to the bound and oppressed.
God said in Jer 51:20-21 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war, for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms, and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider, and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider.
Isa 41:15 Behold I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: Thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small and shall make the hills as chaff.
(Having Teeth) That means we’re not all talk, it’s not all hot air, that means we have the power to back it up.
1Co 4:20 For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in Power.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive Power after that the HolyGhost is come upon you.
Wherever the Kingdom of God is there will be a manifestation of the Power of God
Ro 4:17 For the Kingdom of God is not in meat and drink, but righteousness peace and joy in the HolyGhost.
Then listen to what Jesus said:
Lu 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
We are the Army of God
We have been delivered from the hand of the enemy, we’ve been washed in the blood of the lamb and filled with the HolyGhost and Power.
And we are Armed and Dangerous
God did not call us into his service, and send us into warfare without weapons.
First of all God has given us his Armour
(we find that in Eph 6:13-18)
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Then the bible tells us he has given us weapons that are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds and the casting down of imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. bringing every thought into captivity to to obedience of Christ.
2Co 10:4-5
I came to tell you tonight: In this battle, and in this warfare, (We have the advantage) We have been given weapons that the devil has no defense against.
*We have the power of the name of Jesus) The name that is above every name, the name that holds power in three worlds.
Philip 2:9 -11 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Ac 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Mk 16:17-18 And these signs shall follow them that believe;( In my name) shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
And
*We have the power of the blood of Jesus
There’s protection thru the blood
There’s healing thru the blood
There’s deliverance thru the blood
There’s cleansing for your conscience thru the blood
There’s access into the presence of God thru the blood
There is overcoming power thru the blood ( Rev 12:11) And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.
No wonder the song writer penned the words: There is power in the blood of the lamb.
Those Old timers might not have had a lot of the revelation that we have today, but what they did know (they knew well) and one of the things they knew well was (There is power in the blood)
They would plead the blood on everything: Children, cats, dogs, garden, house, car.
They wouldn’t go anywhere or do anything without pleading the blood first.
And
*We have the power of the word of God.
The same word that God used to create the universe.
The same word that Jesus used to cast out devils and heal the sick, to open blind eyes and unstop deaf ears) we have that same word.
That word is eternal (forever O Lord thy word is settled in heaven
Ps 119: 89)
When we use that word it’s the same as if Jesus himself were standing here speaking it.
There is healing power in the word
There is delivering power in the word
Psalms 107:20 He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from all their destruction’s.
When the devil attacked Jesus in the wilderness he overcame him with the word of God.
The Power that defeated the devil was the word of God in Jesus mouth.
It is written. (Matt 4:3-10)
*We have the weapon and the power of Praise:
Praise is such a powerful weapon that even a prison couldn’t hold the ones who dared to praise God in their midnight hour.
Praise will knock down walls
Praise will open prison doors
Praise will set captives free
Praise will bring divine assistance in your battle
Praise will confuse your enemies
*We have the power of Prayer and Fasting, these are two powerful tools that we often neglect.
Isa 58:6 tells us the power in a fast
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Prayer is powerful but fasting multiplies and magnifies the power and the effect of prayer.
Then we have this powerful communication system that the devil can’t understand.
We have the weapon of Praying in the HolyGhost (praying in Tongues)
When we pray in English or our native tongue, the devil can track us on his radar but when we start praying in the Spirit, (Praying in Tongues), we disappear off his radar, and we become invisible.
The Klingons did not invent the cloaking device
(Thats a HolyGhost invention)
On the show Star Trek there was an enemy to the progress of the enterprise and their mission and they were called the Klingons (and every time captain kirk was about to blast them, they would switch on this cloaking device and disappear off the screen and become invisible).
That’s what happens when we pray in tongues, we get cloaked by the HolyGhost and the devil can’t track us anymore.
Whenever I’m praying in English and I feel resistance and I don’t feel like I’m getting through, I just switch over to another frequency and start praying in tongues and I get cloaked by the HolyGhost and I can fly right by the enemy and he doesn’t even know whats happening.
You are called
You are chosen
You are anointed
And you are Armed and Dangerous (And you have the advantage)
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.... 1Jn 4:4
The devil underestimated you, the devil underestimated us: We are not some weak kneed, limp wrist ed, defeated, discouraged, beat down, head hanging in the dirt, bunch of believers just trying to hold the fort till Jesus Comes.
We are the Army of God, and we are Armed and Dangerous, and we are Possessing the land.
Lu 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Matt 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Lu 9:1-21 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
All three of these scriptures describe an army on the move, advancing, marching in power and authority, treading down every enemy, every devil, every sickness and every disease, breaking through every obstacle and every hindrance.
That’s the church as God sees it
Tell your neighbor: That’s us
Now tell your neighbor: That’s me
We’re not going in our own authority or our own power, but we are going in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Ghost.
I feel an anointing rising up in here right now.
I feel some bones coming together
I feel some muscles, and tendons and sinews, and skin coming on some bones
And I feel a wind of the Holy Ghost
I feel the breath of God breathing new life into some bones
I feel a fire getting into some bones
I feel a mighty Army rising up in the Spirit
I feel a fight coming back to someone
I feel somebody is jumping back into the battle tonight
Somebody I’m talking to: You’ve had the breath knocked out of you, you took a good hit.
The devil hit you (physically, emotionally, financially, he hit your family) he hit you where it hurt and knocked you down.
But You’re up again: You’re standing on your feet again, You’ve got your breath back, You’ve got your fire back and you’ve got your faith back
And you are Armed and Dangerous.
