Dry Bone Live!
(Ezk 37:1-14)
Intro:
A. When a rich young man asked Jesus what he needed to do to be saved the end result was, “go sell all that you have, give it to the poor and come, follow me.” The young man went away sorrowful, for he had great riches. Right after that the disciples said to Jesus, “Who then can be saved?” Their thought was that riches were a blessing from God, a sign of God’s approval. Jesus tells them, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
B. With man, salvation by self is impossible. I cannot save me from my own sin. But with God, salvation is not only possible, it is a gift that is given if I will accept it.
C. Are there things you face in life that seem to be impossible? Is there a future about your spiritual life or this church that seems impossible to you? There is a vision that has been cast by our elders that in 7 years this church will have 200 souls seeking to worship God at this church building. Does that seem impossible? Let me tell you something – for man it is impossible.
D. Kingdom growth is not based on you or me, it is all about God. You and I are the conduit God uses. Paul would write, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
D. I was on a safari in Zambia, Africa and as we were out looking for animals, this was skull was along side the road. That’s one very dry bone skull of a cape buffalo. It immediately reminded me of the passage we are going to study today. If someone told me that they could make that skull turn back into a living cape buffalo I would have said, “That’s impossible.” There is no way that dry bones can live.
I. The Scene
A. The book of Ezekiel has been doom and gloom for the first 30-some chapters. Judah, like Israel, has been taken captive. Ezekiel prophesied and now is with the exiles in Babylon. He is with them in their day of trial. With the prophet having told them what was going to happen and is now happening, God turns to Eziekiel and begins to speak of better days. From chapter 34 onward we hear more about renewal, redemption and restoration.
B. The great days of the kings were over. The throne of David was lost; the Temple of Solomon had been destroyed. The Spirit of the Lord had taken Ezekiel to many places, but now, he was brought by the Spirit of the Lord and set in valley. READ Ezk 37:1-3
C. God had but one question of the prophet, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel had walked around this valley and saw not just bones, but bones that were “very dry.” The point is that what Ezekiel saw was death, and the question had but one obvious answer.
D. Jump down to verse 11 for a moment. What Ezekiel is seeing is not just Judah, but the whole house of Israel. He is seeing the fact that the once great nation, brought up from Egypt to the Promised Land is now nothing but dry bones.
E. Now let’s go back to verse 3. Yet, the prophet responded not by sight but by faith, “O Lord God, you know.”
F. What do you see in your own spiritual life? What do you see in the spiritual life of this church, your family and friends, your acquaintances, or society? Some of you see a valley of VERY dry bones and weep inside. But the question is, can God do anything with those bones? Can God bring life from death, victory from defeat, joy from sorrow?
II. Time To Prophesy
A. READ Ezk 37:4-6. This year we have talked about how a disciple surrenders to Jesus, follows Jesus and shares Jesus. Ezekiel is being asked to preach to a group of dried up bones and tell them what God can AND WILL do with them.
B. The faith it takes to share the good news of Jesus with those whose spiritual life is dry is great when we are fearful of the relationship. This is not about telling people they are going to Hell. This is about telling people the good that God can and will do with the one who walk with Jesus.
C. READ Ezk 4:7-10. There have been many times when I believe the right thing for me to say was the hard thing to say. The right thing for me to believe seemed impossible to me. The step of faith is not an easy step, yet verse 7 says, “So I prophesied as I was commanded.” Verse 10 says, “So I prophesied as he commanded me.”
D. I am going to ask you to believe that God can do anything. Jesus challenged 11 men to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel”. Starting in Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then the outermost parts of the world AND THEY DID, they preached the good news of Jesus.
E. There is hope for a hopeless situation. There is life when God alone raises the dead. There is revival when God’s word is preached and hearts are open to receive the message of the Spirit. The truth is, it is “up from the grave we arose.”
III. The Outcome
A. READ Ezk 37:11-14. The Jews believed they were defeated. Discouragement is one of Satan’s greatest tools. They said, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.” But God was not done with them yet!
B. God was going to bring about a restoration. People like Daniel and his friends kept it. Esther and Mordica had it. Joshua and Zerrubbable came back to Jerusalem followed by Ezra and Nehemiah. Hope was not gone; the root of Jesse was not dead.
C. When God breathed life into dry bones there was an exceedingly great army. God has taken you and me and given us the Holy Spirit. The power of God is in us and he has raised us up to be an exceedingly great army. God will restore the addict, lift up the downtrodden, bind up the broken and create something new and great.
D. Do you believe dead bones can live?
