“BLOW ON US, O HOLY SPIRIT!”
Ezekiel 37:1-11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Someone reimagined the Burning Bush account as it would be today: "Moses, listen to Me. I have good news, and bad news." Moses says, “Tell me the good news first.”
2. “OK.” The Voice continues: "You, Moses, will lead the
people of Israel out from bondage. Pharaoh will refuse to let Israel go, so I will release a series of plagues – including blood, frogs, gnats, boils, disease, hail stones, locusts, and many more, all by your hand. At last I will open the Red Sea and all Israel will cross over on dry ground.
3. Moses stammered, "Wow God! That's fantastic - but what's the bad news?" “The bad news is that You have to write the environmental impact statement.”
4. In this morning’s Bible passage we’re going to focus on the power of the Holy Spirit. Read with me…
B. TEXT
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you so that you live.” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise and a shaking. And the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 When I looked, the sinews and the flesh grew upon them, and the skin covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the wind; prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain so that they 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 to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” Ezek. 37:1,3-5,7-11; Modern English Version
C. THESIS
1. So this morning we’re looking at a unique command to Ezekiel; to PROPHESY TO THE WIND. My thesis is that God’s allowing Ezekiel to be involved in initiating a Spirit-Revival sets the precedent for us to do the same.
2. The title of this message is “Blow on us – O Holy Spirit!”
I. MEANING OF THE VISION
A. APPLIED TO ISRAEL
1. This vision of the ‘dry bones restored to living people’ first of all represents God’s prophesying that the nation of Israel would be gathered from exile from the places they had been scattered by the Assyrians and the Babylonians and again be brought back to their own land and “reborn” as a nation (Isa. 11:11).
2. We have seen this prophecy fulfilled in our day as Israel has been regathered. As of 2013, the majority of Jews in the world now live in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the prophecy of Ezek. 37 had been fulfilled!
B. APPLIED TO THE CHURCH
1. A present-day application; The church, just like the nation of Israel, has undergone periods of dark ages, of backslidden condition, of coldness and deadness when it seemed that it would be impossible for the church to ever come back to its original glory.
2. But God says, “I will bring the church up out of its grave and make it a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle. Jesus says, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it,” Matt. 16:18.
C. PERSONAL APPLICATION
But the Word of God also has an individual and personal application for us. This valley represents the valley of your soul. The contents of this valley are the skeletons of our past and our present condition. The necessity of divine intervention to achieve our healing and restoration is unmistakably clear.
II. DESCRIPTION OF OUR CONDITION
A. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BONES
No picture of death could be more complete.
1. The bones were in the middle of the VALLEY – a place representing trials, problems, disappointments, & failures.
2. There were a GREAT MANY BONES. This indicates the vast extent of the damage to people; almost everyone has experienced these moments of devastating disappointment or grief.
3. The bones were SCATTERED from each other. Scavengers have pulled them apart and scrambled all the bones into a disordered mixture. Who could ever sort and restore these bones to their original owners?
4. The bones were VERY DRY – cracked & brittle. This dry, lifeless condition had continued for a long time. Resurrections were known to be possible up to a few days after death, but these bones were way beyond those limits.
5. The overall condition of these bones indicated that restoration is not only unlikely, but impossible.
B. WHAT THE “DRY BONES” REPRESENT
1. The lives of people that were lived the wrong way.
2. Blessings, opportunities, or potentials missed.
3. Hopes and dreams long dead, abandoned in the valley of troubles.
C. WHY UNBURIED?
1. As terrible as the vision is of the cacophony of dry bones, THEIR UNBURIED STATE IS ACTUALLY A SIGN. When you bury things, that puts a final end to them; they are covered. But a corpse left exposed hasn’t seen its final internment. The future is not finished being written!
2. God is giving us future hope: GOD IS A GOD WHO…
*Opens the graves of our despair and gives us hope!
*Opens the graves of our anger and gives us peace!
*Opens the graves of our marital confusion & gives us unity.
*Opens the graves of our financial lack and gives us
abundance!
3. Believe for God to bring you out today! GLORY TO GOD!
III. THE VALUE OF THE WIND/ HOLY SPIRIT
A. WIND IS A MIGHTY FORCE, OFTEN UNCONTROLLABLE
1. We all know how powerful winds can be. Tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, gigantic weather formations. Despite our technological advancements, we still can’t control the wind or the weather!
2. The Holy Spirit is like that too. He can’t be controlled; we can’t tell Him how to do His job.
3. Some churches want nice, safe services. They want their services to follow the outline on the back of the bulletin. But how many of you know, the Holy Spirit doesn't care about our bulletin!
4. Only He knows what He wants to accomplish in a service, so how can we tell Him how it's all going to go? Only He knows who is going to be present and what kind of ministry they are going to need.
5. The same is true of our average day at work or at home. We don't know who God’s going to send to us, so we must be walking in the Spirit to be useful in helping them.
B. WIND IS A TRANSFORMING, CLEANSING FORCE
1. The constant blowing of the wind picks up dirt, sand, small rocks and even trash. Over time, "Wind Erosion" will transform the appearance of the land.
2. So it is when the Holy Spirit begins to blow in our lives – He exposes what’s underneath the surface. He blows away our pretense, our masquerades, our reputations – and exposes the truth of who & what we really are!
3. There are times we need the Holy Spirit to move in our lives like a warm, gentle, summer breeze and there are other times when we need the “wind of God” to blow with destructive force and demolish every stronghold, every wall, every obstacle satan has around us.
4. We need the Holy Spirit’s cleansing so that we can become more like Jesus!
C. WIND IS A POWER-GENERATING FORCE
1. WIND MILLS have been used for thousands of years to grind grain and pump water for irrigation.
2. More recently, wind "farms" have been built to generate electricity. For centuries the wind has been used in sailing to carry ships and boats across the seas.
3. In the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit blew into Jerusalem with a “rushing, mighty wind.” He gave power to the disciples of Jesus so they could do the same miracles that
Jesus had done. We too need to "Be filled with the Holy Ghost" and to "Wait till you be endued with power from on high." Then we’ll be empowered to do the same works as Jesus did (John 14:12).
D. WIND IS LIFE-GIVING, REFRESHING
1. Where there’s no wind, life becomes fragile. Biosphere II was an experiment with a closed environment. The plant life inside the dome had everything it needed: sun, air, water, soil. But when they bumped the trees, they fell over; without wind they developed no root system, no resistance.
2. Without wind there would be no exchanging of the carbon dioxide for oxygen; no carrying of moisture to the dry inland areas.
3. We all know how refreshing the wind can be. When you’re hot, a cool breeze is a wonderful sensation.
4. Today the Spirit of God is present and God is speaking to you;
a. to discouraged folks, His word is “Cheer up!”
b. to dishonest folks, His word is “’fess up;”
c. to sour folks, He says “Sweeten up!”
d. to closed folk, He says “Open up;”
e. to gossipers, His word is “shut up;”
f. to conflicted people, He says “make up;”
g. to sleeping folks, He says “wake up;”
h. to lukewarm people, He commands “fire up;”
i. to dry bones, He says “shake up”; and
j. to pew potatoes, He says “stand up!”
k. But to everyone, Jesus says, “lift Me up!”
IV. HOW CAN WE PROVOKE GOD TO SEND THE WIND OF THE SPIRIT?
1. GOD IS IN CONTROL OF THE WIND
“Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists?” Prov. 30:4.
“He… brings forth the wind from His treasuries/ storehouses” Ps. 135:7; Jer. 10:13; 51:16.
“He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow” Ps. 147:18.
2. WE MUST LEARN TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WINDS WHICH GOD SENDS. For centuries people traveling in sailing ships learned to cut the sails to gain maximum advantage from every type of wind. We need learn this about the Spirit.
3. BUT WHAT IF NO WIND IS BLOWING? We’ve heard of the Holy Spirit’s downpour at Azusa Str. In Los Angeles, 1906. We’ve heard of the revivals in S. America, Africa, and in China. But what if the Holy Spirit is not blowing in the U.S.A? Are we without any resources? NO! God had Ezekiel prophesy to stir up the Spirit to action in his day. We can do the same by the means God has proscribed:
A. REPENTANCE CAN BRING THE WIND
1. 2 Chron. 7:14; “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
2. There had been no rain in Israel for 3 ½ years due to sin. But when Israel repented at Mt. Carmel, not only did God manifest fire, but He sent a change of wind – rain began to fall again on the land. REPENTANCE MADE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WIND!
B. WE CAN PRAY FOR THE WIND
1. After Jesus’ ascension, the disciples prayed for 10 days, and God sent a rushing, mighty wind and filled them with the Spirit.
2. The same thing happened in Samaria (Acts 8:15-17) and with Paul at Ephesus (Acts 19:6). They prayed and the Spirit came!
C. PRAISE IN SPITE OF SITUATION
1. Paul & Silas had seen no intervention from God to stop their being beaten by the officials. But in the jail they began to openly praise God, singing songs of praise. God answered with an earthquake and the Holy Spirit moved in the heart of the jailor and he & his family got saved.
2. Many times in Scripture God has been provoked to action (2 Chron. 20:21-22; Psalm 27:1-3; Joshua 6:20) by praise when there was no visible way to victory.
D. OBEYING GOD IN DIFFICULT THINGS
1. When the disciples prayed for boldness (Acts 4:31) they were refilled.
2. When the widow borrowed her neighbor’s many vessels, and then set about to fill them, God honored her faith with a miracle of flowing oil.
3. When the Israelite army was told to dig ditches in a dry
desert in order to get water, they did so, and without any rainfall, God made water fill all the ditches they had dug.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: THE HOLY SPIRIT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
1. Off the coast of Labrador, H. G. Bosch saw huge icebergs towering 400 feet into the air. Surprisingly, they all sailed right into the teeth of strong headwinds and huge opposing waves.
2. The secret lies in the fact that nearly 90% of their bulk is beneath the water, where the Labrador current takes control. This mighty force bears them along no matter how many obstacles they encounter.
3. That’s why when a person is filled with the Spirit, they can go against even the strongest winds of their culture, because “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” 1 Jn. 4:4.
B. LOOKING BUT NOT GETTING?
1. When you go to a restaurant, they give you a menu. If you’re a little hungry when you start reading the menu, it’s not unusual for people to get real hungry. They might even start salivating as they read the descriptions. Then the waiter adds to their desire with his word pictures.
2. So does the patron, after reading and hearing about the food, then get up satisfied and go home? No! You didn’t come to hear about the food, but to experience it!
3. Many people go to church and hear from the menu about the Lord, and then go home not having tasted that the Lord is good! No wonder you’re still hungry & your life is not satisfied. LET’S NOT JUST HEAR ABOUT JESUS, LET’S EXPERIENCE HIM! [Tony Evan’s Book of Illus., pp. 161-162]
C. ALTAR CALL
1. Let’s come to the altar. Listen to David, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” Ps. 63:1.
2. Ezekiel could have mistaken the appearance of the multitude as that the miracle was complete; but they still had no spiritual Breath in them! PARTIAL REVIVAL IS NOT REVIVAL! Let’s get all God wants us to have!
3. How many of you have hopelessness, despair, problems, difficulties, unchangeable traits…? GET SPIRIT-POWER!
