“Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones”
As we near the kickoff of our Old Time Tent Revival
I feel the need to preach revival of our own hearts first
It is impossible for us as a church to promote revival in our community
Without looking at revival in our own lives
Both personally and as a part of the body of Christ
I am excited about what God is doing here
I am excited about what God is preparing to do in our community
And I am excited about what he has done in my own life and the lives of many of you
In prayer and preparation for today’s sermon
I kept coming back again and again to the Old Testament book of Ezekiel
This is a book of prophesy
And God through Ezekiel shows the nation of Israel the path of their lives apart from him
Listen to me
This book was written to God’s chosen people
While they were suffering in exile and bondage to Babylon
They knew God- kind of
But they chose to go their own way
And due to their disobedience
They suffered the consequences of their sins
And more importantly lost the blessings of God
While this book is hard to understand
And if read out of context is even harder to understand
It does
As does all of God’s word
Have direct application in our own lives
In the life of our Church
And in the world, we live in
Listen to me
Before I read Ezekiel chapter 37
You need to know
This was a vision given to Ezekiel
There are some out there that teach
Bodily restoration from this passage
They are not rightly dividing God’s word
It is clear from this passage if we read it in context and understand how prophesy is written
That God is teaching the people about
Spiritual restoration
And freedom from bondage
Not Physical restoration
We need these as well
Freedom form the bondage of sin
And Spiritual revival
Just a of couple of quick facts
The book was written in about 571 BC
The nation of Israel was in exile-- again
And God spoke to them though the prophet Ezekiel just as he spoke though Isaiah, Jeremiah, and many others, just as he speaks though his word to us today
Ezekiel’s message was initially one of Doom and the first 24 chapters hold this message
Ezekiel also spoke judgement against other nations in chapters 25-32
Then he spoke a message of hope and restoration in chapters 33-48
It is in the hope chapters that we learn of revival
And where we see a promise of restoration to the people and a restoration of the true worship of God
Let me read Ezekiel 37 verses 1- 13 for you
The LORD took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the LORD to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3 Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign LORD,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”
4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
7 So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”
10 So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.
This passage is about restoration
This passage is about revival
And this passage has direct application in our lives today
Sin
Selfishness
Complacency
Idol worship
And all sorts of distractions had caused the nation of Israel to place their hope and trust
In something other than God
And because of their disobedience
They were living in bondage
They were living in turmoil
They were living in spiritual darkness
Half heartedly crying out to God for deliverance
All the while trusting in idols
Trusting in their captors
Trusting in their selves
Trusting in their misconceived notion of righteousness
And the wheels had fallen off their lives
So, God
In His wisdom sent a preacher to tell them the truth of his love
And to tell them the path of restoration
Look at verse 4
4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD!
God sent Ezekiel to preach his word
God’s word
And the preaching of God’s word
Is essential for Revival
You can learn to be a good person by watching a good person
But the word of God is necessary to learn to be a Godly person
God’s word is powerful
God’s word is life changing
In written or spoken form it has the power to restore us
Revive us
And to change us into something new
I feel very safe in saying
Apart from God’s word and the true Biblical teaching of his word
There can be no revival
Apart from God’s word
We are all destined to be just a bunch of dry bones
Just bumping around lost with no place to go or no idea how to get there
Along with the preaching of the word
I believe in all my heart
That personal bible study
Reading
Understanding and applying God’s word
Is imperative to
Reviving our relationship with God
Think of any relationship you want to
Communication is key
Without communication
The relationship is doomed
How many you
Wish for a strained relationship with your spouse
Your kids
Even with your dog
None of us
So, as a result, we work at communication right
Listen to me
The preaching of God’s word
And the study of God’s word
Is primarily how God speaks to us today
At least this is how he speaks loudest and clearest
Unfortunately, many in this world
I feel safe to say some of you
I feel even safer saying myself at one time
Place no importance on God’s word
The listening of preaching
The personal study
The meditation of
The Reflection of God’s word
And our relationship with God suffers as a result
We may be saved or may think we are saved
But we are still just dry bones
Going through the motions of religion
Hoping to get to heaven
But hoping this God thing does not affect our personal lives
Hanging God’s word on the same rack you hang your good Sunday hat on
And letting it stay there till next week
Or the next and then picking it to keep up appearances
The preaching and teaching
The reading and study of God’s word
Are imperative to revival of our hearts, minds, souls and spirits
Next is prayer
Prayer is not specifically mentioned in this passage
But Ezekiel – in the Spirit is having a conversation with God
How do we talk to God?
Through Prayer
Without prayer
Once again communication breaks down
And the revival process can come to a halt
There can be no revival without prayer
The nation of Israel turned away from God
They stopped seeking his guidance in their lives
They stopped depending on him for their provision
They stopped depending on him for their protection
They had dried out
And were spiritually dead
The Holy Spirit was not working in their lives
Listen to me under the Old Covenant the Holy Spirt came upon people and left people at his will
Under the New Covent that God made through Christ
The Holy spirit lives in the heart of all believers
But that does not mean all believers are listening to him
A believer who stops listening to God though the sound teaching and preaching of his word
Though the reading and study of his word
Though daily prayers
While being saved
Can be just as dead spiritually as those dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision
Preaching
Prayer
And then we come to the power
Listen to me
Power is required for revival
But not just any power
God’s power
Ezekiel 37:14
14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the LORD has spoken!’”
We can listen to preaching and teaching
We can read and study
And we can have head knowledge
The Israelites had head knowledge
They knew what they we supposed to do
But that knowledge never made it to their hearts
I believe in my heart
That most people pray
The saying is there is no atheists in a foxhole
If enough pressure is applied most people will cry out to a higher power
Even if they are unaware of who that higher power is
But listen to me
Prayer apart from the Spirit
Except for the prayer of salvation
Is heard but not acted on
Let me make this simple
God hears all requests
But apart from adopting someone into his family through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ
That means giving salvation to anyone who cries out for it
He is not obligated to act on those prayers
He acts on the prayers of his children
Those who have accepted his Son
Those who are indwelled with his Spirit
All who believe not on those who don’t
And there can be no revival apart from the Spirit of God
You can’t be redeemed apart from the Spirit
You can’t be Saved apart from the Spirit
You can’t be Renewed apart from the Holy Spirit
You can’t be Transformed apart from the Holy Spirit
You can’t be Restored apart from the Holy Spirit
And you can’t have revival apart for the Holy Spirit
Many try
But many are unsuccessful
Preaching of the word
Study of the word
Praying
And surrendering to the power of God through the Holy Spirit are keys to revival
I do not believe we can have revival without all of them
There is one more thing that is required
And this one is on us
Repentance
We all ask for forgiveness of our sins
But many refuse to repent
I must question the salvation of those who accept Christ and just go on doing what they were doing
Living like they were living before Jesus saved them
Repentance is a must
There must be sorrow for sin
Guilt
Shame
That is the job of the Holy Spirit
To convict us of our sins
And cause us to turn around
Go the other way
Stop doing what we know is wrong and start doing what we know is right
I don’t think repentance is preached enough today
I don’t think I have put enough emphasis on it in the past
But today is a new day
And if repentance ain’t your thing
Or steps on your toes
Buy some good steel toe boots, or find a church that passes out kittens and bunnies on Sunday and only tries to make you feel good about being in chruch
Listen to me
How many of you would stay in a relationship?
Where let’s just say
Your spouse was openly unfaithful
And when you called them on it they asked for forgiveness
And you gave it
But they never stopped cheating
This is how we are when we ask forgiveness for from God and don’t repent
We say God
I’m sorry
Please don’t hold it against me
But God can you just look the other way or deal with my sin
Listen to me
When we sin
And we ask forgiveness without repenting
We are cheating on God
He might not punish us right away, he could, and truthfully, he maybe should
But this I can assure you he will not bless us in our sin
Preaching, teaching and personal bible study
Prayer
The Power of the Holy Spirit and repentance
Are all keys to revival
And all 4 are necessary for true revival
Listen as I begin to close and as we begin preparing to take the Lord’s supper
I need you to know this
Personal revival starts in our minds
We must change the way we think
About almost everything
God, ourselves, sin
But if revival stops in our minds it is as Granny from the outlaw Josey wales says
Doodlely squat
It means nothing--- revival of the mind is not revival
It must progress to our hearts
We must have heart knowledge of God
We must know Jesus as our savior
We must have the Holy Spirit living inside of us
And then revival must go out to the world though our hands and feet
Taking the good news wherever we go
It must pour out from our mouths
Telling the good news to all who will listen and even some who won’t
To revive our old dry bones, we must be all in for Jesus
Revival starts with us
Each of us
And then
Revival moves into the church
Igniting a fire
That moves into the community
Into the county
Into the state
Into our country
Into the world
Listen to me
Pick up your feet or guard your toes I may step hard on some this morning
If you don’t experience revival in your own heart
How can you expect the church to experience revival?
And how can you expect the fire of revival to spread to the world?
Listen to what God told Israel though Ezekiel in chapter 36 verses 23-27
I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD. 24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.
25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.[a] 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
Restoration
Revival
Renewal
Though Jesus Christ our Lord
Song
As the men come to pass out the crackers and juice
Please examine yourself
Look into your heart
Are you ready for revival?
Are you ready to take God seriously?
Are you ready to apply his word to your life?
Are you ready to be filled with the Holy Spirit and led by him?
Are you ready to repent when he convicts you?
If not don’t take it
If you are not a believer
Don’t take it
If your heart is not right, take this time to get it right before you share in the Lord’s supper
Why you may ask
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29
So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against[b] the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ,[c] you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.
Confess, repent, cry out for forgiveness
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.[a] Do this in remembrance of me.”
Eat
25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” Drink
26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
Close from heart
Pray------
