Call on the Lord When You Need Revival
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Introduction
Call on God when you Hurt for Others, Need Hope, Feel Alone…Need Revival!
The word ‘Revival’ might conjure up different images for different people. Old fashioned tent meetings or gospel meetings; Worship characterized by extra enthusiasm; or even historic great awakenings.
To speak of revival implies that there is something lost, something dead, something about faith that has lost it’s liveliness. Ezekiel’s audience certainly knew about that. Living in Babylonian exile, they lost all connection to their previous life. Separated from God’s blessing and in a strange land, their hopes were low.
Ezekiel 37:11b “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.”
God calls Ezekiel to speak revival into the lives of those who were spiritually dead through a vision of one of the most striking scenes in Scripture.
Read Ezekiel 37:1-10
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.
3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.
6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’”
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
From a pile of bones to a vast army - God infuses the dead and lifeless faith of the past into a living and vital living people. This vivid prophetic dream is a promise from God to bring life when all is lost, and bring hope when there is none.
Most of us have found ourselves in places where faith seemed dead and we needed to experience revival. More than just having a revival service, we need to turn to the Lord to receive what He has for us, illustrated by His love and reanimation of the faith of His people.
1. HOW TO KNOW IF YOU NEED REVIVAL
UNREAD BIBLE. Your Bible has sat unopened since the last time you went to church. The quest for Bible truth ceases and one grows content with knowledge already acquired. If your prayer closet has cobwebs and your Bible is dusty, then you’ve lost the connection to God’s power.
EARTHLY INTEREST. You’re more concerned about what’s happening in your favorite show or with your favorite team than you are with the things of the Lord. We seldom think thoughts of eternity. You adjust happily to the world's lifestyle and the slightest excuse seems sufficient to keep you from spiritual duty / opportunity.
PRAYER. Little or no interest. Our prayers lack fervency. Prayer ceases to be a vital part of a professing believer's life.
PASSION. When our Christianity is joyless and passionless. When our hearts are cold and our eyes are dry. When our singing is half-hearted and our worship lifeless. We just don’t love God as we once did.
GODLY LIVING/Holiness. You regularly make excuses for missing church. You are not living by the truth you know. When we have time for sports, recreation, and entertainment, but not for Bible study and prayer. The need for recreation and entertainment become a large and controlling part of your lifestyle. Sins of the body and of the mind can be indulged without an uproar in your conscience.
SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS. When we are blind to the extent of our need and don’t think we need revival.
SPIRITUAL DEADNESS: Ezekiel 37:11b “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.”
*Remember God was not content, and sent Ezekiel with a message of revival.*
2. GOD’S RESPONSE WHEN YOU NEED REVIVAL (Ezekiel 37:12-14)
A. I will give you Life again (12 I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them ; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.) The only hope of Israel, and of us, is to receive life again from God.
Psalm 85:6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
We are asking for more than enthusiasm, we are asking for God to restore us back to our first love! Whatever sin has moved us away from Jesus, a prayer for revival is a prayer for forgiveness, grace, mercy, life!
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
B. I am the Lord (13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.) God alone is the able to bring new life where there is none.
Jeremiah 10:23 I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own, that we’re not able to direct our paths.
The dead bones in Ezekiel’s vision couldn’t do anything for themselves. God had to act on their behalf.
”We cannot organize revival, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from Heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again." - G. Campbell Morgan
The first level of being a disciple of Jesus is acknowledging Him as Lord.
John 5:28-29 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.
Revival comes from the Lord who revives his people and brings new life both now and for eternity.
C. I will put my Spirit in you (14a I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.) God’s promise to live within us through His Spirit is powerful and meaningful.
Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 5:5 "… God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
“Nothing is so dead that it is beyond the life giving reach of Christ’s Spirit. Wherever the Spirit breathes there is life. No heart is too scarred, no community is too broken, no earth is too scorched, that the Spirit can not breathe and new life blossom forth in joyous celebration.” - Nettleton
Conclusion
"As long as we are content to live without revival, we will." - Leonard Ravenhill.
Though there are many reasons why we do not experience revival in our own lives. We should appeal to God for His help.
Ezekiel’s vision and prophecy over the valley of dead bones reminds us that no matter how grim things look from our perspective, God is able and willing to revive dead interests, hearts, and lives!
The living breath of God is on display at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. His discussion with Lazarus’ sisters answers the questions, “Can these bones live?”
John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Lazarus came forth from the grave alive… Jesus also emerged from his own tomb alive. Life is what God has to offer - and when we have allowed anything to deaden our relationship with Him, we can only turn to Him for life, help, and hope.
“We need to hear the vision of Ezekiel in the Vally of dry bones. It is a scene meant to live in the imagination and the heart, when we find ourselves gasping for breath, struggling to stay alive.”(Wallace)
The Good news is that the free gift of eternal life awaits the sinner who wants to come home and the one who has yet to give their life to Christ.
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LifeGroup Questions
1. What comes to mind when you think about ‘revival’? What are the differences between personal revival and congregational revival? How are they related / distinct?
2. Why would God give Ezekiel a vision of dry bones? What do these bones represent? Why did God ask Ezekiel the question in verse 3? In what way can our faith sometimes feel like a valley of dry bones?
3. In Ezekiel’s prophetic vision, he preaches to a valley of dry bones. How do you think it felt for Ezekiel to preach to a valley of dry bones? How can we relate in terms of bringing the gospel to a world dead in sin?
4. In what ways is submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ a key to experiencing revival in our faith?
5. What does it mean to you that the Spirit of God lives within you?
6. Leonard Ravenhill, a preacher from a past generation, is known for his blunt and provocative statements. He wrote, "As long as we are content to live without revival, we will." What do you think he was trying to get his readers/listeners to understand??
7. Overall this is a message of hope. What hopeful thought comes to you from this text as we have spent time with it today?
8. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about today?
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Video of this message will be available on the YouTube Channel of Forsythe Church of Christ.
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Resources
Sermon by Nathan Nettleton
http://southyarrabaptist.church/sermons/is-anything-too-far-gone/
10 Signs You Need Revival by Cheri Henderson
https://www.halffullandoverflowing.com/top-10-signs-need-revival-cure/
20 Signs You May Need Revival
https://threemacs.org/themes/revival/20Signs.htm
27 Indications We May Need Revival
https://daily-dew.com/27-indications-that-we-need-revival/
7 Steps to Revival
https://www.wordsoflife.co.uk/bible-studies/study-7-seven-steps-to-revival/
Spurgeon, Charles.
https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/come-from-the-four-winds-o-breath/#flipbook/
Wallace, James A. Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 2. Westminster John Knox Press, 2010.
