The Dead & Dry church God gave the Pastor

Ezekiel 37:1–6 (KJV 1900)

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

I Know we grew up on this story having to do with the foot bone connected to the ankle bone and the ankle connected to the calf bone but it don’t

“ The Dead & Dry Church God gave the Pastor “

Ezekiel 37: 1-6

I believe

That most Pastors

Especially young Pastors

Go into a state of depression

Is when they are Pastoring

Churches With NO RESULTS

And because

There is NO RESULTS

They feel

That their churches

Are Dead & Dry

And because Pastors feel

That the vision that

God has given them

They’re not fulfilling the Vision

Fast enough or even moving towards

The vision that God have given the Pastor

And so

They look at their church

As a Dead & Dry Church

And because

They are not doing the things

That ministry

Calls churches to do

They feel that they have

A Dead & Dry church

It’s amazing that

Everyone in the Church

Love the Lord

But hardly no one

Wants to give their

TIME - TALENT - TENTH

Example

The Tithes / Dead & Dry — People not Tithing DEAD — People giving but not giving right DRY

The Ministries / Dead & Dry --- People in the pews not using their gift DEAD --- People in ministry want to do it their way and not God’s way DRY

NOTE: WE HAVE USAVED people that own businesses that are not save and their businesses is thriving and rising while our churches are Dead & Dry and filled with God lovers

Quote: Someone said one day “ Don’t Mind the RESULTS , Mind the OBEDIENCE “

When the Prophet

Said to God

“ O Lord God, thou knowest “

I believe

That the Prophet

Gave this wise answer

Because he knew

He was in a place

Where he, the Prophet

Could not get any results from this Dead & Dry place — But God

Quote: “ Duty is ours; results are God’s.”

John Quincy Adams

And as Pastors

We have to focus on

The Duty

That God has given us

And leave the results to God

Acts 2:47 —“praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

“ The Dead & Dry Church God Gave the Pastor “

The book of Ezekiel can be summed up with “The expectation of the nations religious restoration by Christ”

Ezekiel was talking about

the people of Israel,

and prophesying concerning them;

and evidently the vision,

according to God’s

own interpretation of it,

was concerning them,

and them alone

For “these bones are the whole house of Israel.”

It was not a vision

concerning all men,

nor, indeed,

concerning any men

as to the resurrection of the dead,

but it had

a direct

and special bearing

upon the Jewish people.

Ezekiel was talking

of his own people,

of his own race,

and of his own tribe.

He surely

ought to have known

his own mind,

and led by the Holy Spirit

he gives us

an explanation

of the vision,

NOT—“Thus saith the Lord, my dying Church shall be restored,”

But—

“I will bring my people

out of their graves,

and bring them into

the land of Israel.”

Decayed Churches

can most certainly be revived

by the preaching of the Word,

accompanied by the coming

of the heavenly “breath”

from the four winds.

O Lord,

send us such revivals now,

for many of our Churches

need them:

they are almost as dead

as the corpses which sleep around them

in the graveyard.

But while we admit

this to be

a very fitting

accommodation of our text,

YET

we are quite convinced

that it is not

to this that the passage refers

It would be altogether

alien to the prophet’s strain

of thought to be thinking

about the restoration

of fallen zeal and the rekindling

of expiring love;

or about the revival of one Church or of another

The meaning of our text,

as opened up

by the context,

is most evidently,

if words mean anything,

FIRST,

that there shall be

a political restoration

of the Jews

to their own land

and to their own nationality;

and then, secondly,

there is in the text,

and in the context,

a most plain declaration,

that there shall be

a spiritual restoration,

a conversion in fact,

of the tribes of Israel.

When was Ezekiel written?

Ezekiel ministered between

about 593 and 570 BC

He was taken into exile

in 597 BC

by Nebuchadnezzar

with the second group of the captives

There were three major invasions of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar.

1st In 605 BC during Jehoiakim’s reign-Daniel was taken to Babylon ( Dan. 1 )

2nd In 597 BC during Jehoiachin’s reign-Ezekiel was taken to Babylon ( Eze. 1 )

3rd In 586 BC during Zedekiah’s reign-Jeremiah was left in the land while Zedekiah was taken to Babylon ( Jer. 39 )

To whom was Ezekiel written?

Ezekiel addressed his book

to the exiles in Babylon

who were discouraged

and deluded with false hopes

of an early return to their homeland ( Eze.12:25 )

The Doctrinal Purpose

The central doctrine teaching

of Ezekiel

concerns the glory of God

Connected with God's glory

is the need for judgment

on sin in the vindication

of his righteousness

And finally the book stresses God's faithfulness to his promises.

The Christological Purpose

Ezekiel anticipates Christ as the glory of God ( 10:18,19 )

The renewer of the covenant ( 16:60 )

The shepherd of the flock ( 34:23 )

The cleanser of the temple ( 36:24 )

The regenerator of Israel ( 36:25,26 )

And throughout the book he is presented as the restorer of Israel

What is Ezekiel About ?

Ezekiel is the prophet

of the glory of God

The name Ezekiel

means “ strengthen of God “

He exhibited this quality

as he spoke to the captives

concerning God’s mighty hand

in judgment on the nations

and in the religious restoration of Israel

Ezekiel begins

with a vision

of the glory of God

explaining that Judah

no longer experiences it

because of their sin ( 1-24 )

He then speaks

of God's visitation

in judgment

on the Nations surrounding Judah

in preparation

for the return of Gods glory ( 25-32 )

The book concludes

with a description

of the return of God's glory

and the restoration of Israel ( 33-48 )

How was he going

to revive the disconnected

lifeless bones of Israel?

He would do it through two key words: Word and Spirit.

Ezekiel was told

Prophesy concerning these bones

and say to them:

Dry bones,

hear the word of the Lord! (37:4).

Then

as Ezekiel obeyed

God caused the bones

to begin knitting themselves

together as tendons,

flesh, and skin

gave them shape again (37:7–8)

But the Word

had to be accompanied

by the giving of the Spirit

as breath entered

these bodies

and they came to life (37:10)

providing a classic illustration of spiritual revival

Chapter 36

had already revealed

that Israel’s

receiving the Spirit of God

will occur in the kingdom

when Jesus Christ returns

and God’s chosen people

are given a new heart

as promised in the new covenant

In that day

God said

I will put my Spirit in you

and Israel

will be settled in its land (37:14)

The dry bones will become a new nation

Similarly

the Word and the Spirit

bring spiritual revival

to God’s church today

When one or both are absent

then God’s people

have no living experience

of His reality in their midst (see 2 Cor 3:17–18).

1st Ezekiel had A Deadly Condition ( V. 1 )

The first thing you have to understand

Is that God gave Ezekiel

This deadly condition

And whatever God gives us

We have to appreciate it

And take care of whatever

God has given to us or entrusted to us

Pastor take of Mt. Zion as you have been doing because God gave you this church

In this Deadly Condition

Ezekiel had to deal with Dead Bones

Obviously, they were dead bones

because a man without Christ

is dead in trespasses and sins.

“For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

In this Deadly Condition

Ezekiel had to deal with Dead Bones

Ezekiel had to deal with Dry Bones

“They were very dry.” (Ezekiel 37:2) They were dry bones.

That is, there is no meat and no marrow

They had been out there for a long time

Not even any moisture in these bones

And if there’s ever one thing that SIN can do it can DRY you UP

Ezekiel 37:11 (KJV 1900) 11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

In this Deadly Condition

Ezekiel had to deal with Dead Bones

Ezekiel had to deal with Dry Bones

Ezekiel had to deal with Depressed Bones

Where were they ???????

Verse 1 tells us they were in a valley.

(Ezekiel 37:1)

Now valleys speak of depression

A valley is a depressed place

We talk about “being down in the valley”;

We talk about “the valley of sorrow”; and

We talk about “the valley of the shadow of death.” (Psalm 23:4)

And here is a picture

of these bones

in some dark ravine

in some gloomy valley

in a place not only of death and dryness

but a place of depression

This speaks to us

About the condition

of our friends and family

Without Christ: DEPRESSION

Outwardly they have the bigger house

Outwardly they are driving the big cars

Outwardly they are making more money than you

Outwardly they have the big parties

Outwardly they laugh;

Outwardly they stay taking trips

Outwardly they spend money like water

outwardly, they’re having great times

but the reason they do all of that

is because they are depressed

nobody has any joy apart from Jesus?

In this Deadly Condition

Ezekiel had to deal with Dead Bones

Ezekiel had to deal with Dry Bones

Ezekiel had to deal with Depressed Bones

Ezekiel had to deal with Disjointed Bones

These bones are scattered all over

In other words

nothing makes sense

And you can just write

over that picture

just “impossible.”

But God specializes in things that seem impossible.

1st Ezekiel had A Deadly Condition ( V. 1 )

2nd Ezekiel had A Divine Commission ( V.1A )

Lewis, You have to Proceed with Divine Expectancy ( V. 3 )

Don’t ever see

Your church or people

so dead & dry

That God can’t give it life

Lewis, You have to Proceed with Divine Expectancy ( V. 3 )

Lewis, You have to Preach with a Divine Urgency ( V. 4 )

Hebrews 4:12 (KJV 1900) 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

John 6:63 (KJV 1900) 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Lewis, You have to Proceed with Divine Expectancy ( V. 3 )

Lewis, You have to Preach with a Divine Urgency ( V. 4 )

Lewis, You have to Pray with Divine Fervency ( V. 9 )

Now in the Old Testament

as in the New Testament

the word spirit and breath

and wind are all interchangeable

When the Bible

speaks of this breath

it is talking about

the breath of God.

Just like when God

breathed into man’s nostrils,

and man became

a living soul,

“All Scripture is given by the breath of God.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

It is God-breathed.

The word pneuma

is translated “spirit.”

Pneuma is “wind” or “spirit.”

What he’s talking about here

is the Holy Spirit of God.

Here is the prophet saying,

“O God,

it is not enough for me to preach.

O God,

you must move.

I can preach a sermon

that is exegetically correct;

I can preach a sermon

that may be doctrinally pure;

but nobody

is going to get saved

by that kind of preaching

unless God breathes on them—unless the Spirit of God moves.

I want you to observe

that there are two kinds

of prophesying spoken of here.

First

the prophet prophesies to the bones

—here is preaching;

And next,

he prophesies to the four winds

—here is praying.

The preaching

has its share in the work,

but it is the praying

which achieves the result,

for after he had prophesied

to the four winds,

and not before,

the bones began to live.

All that the preaching did

was to make a stir,

and to bring the bones together,

but it was the praying

which did the work,

for then God

the Holy Ghost came to give them life.

Pastor Keep Preaching & Keep Praying

God begins to MOVE

Commotion ( V. 7 )

Connection ( V. 7 )

1st Ezekiel had A Deadly Condition ( V. 1 )

2nd Ezekiel had A Divine Commission ( V.1A )

3rd Ezekiel had A Dynamic Completion

They were vitalized --- and the breath came into them ( V. 10 )

They were energized --- and they lived ( V. 10 )

They were mobilized --- and stood up upon their feet ( V. 10 )

They were utilized — The Bible says, “I’m going to bring you into your land. You are going to fulfill the purpose for which I have called you.” (Joshua 1) God has a purpose for every life.

“ The Dead & Dry church God gave the Pastor “

1st God has Assigned you to this Place ( V.1 )

2nd God has Anointed you for this Place ( V.1 )

3rd God wants you to take Assessment of this Place ( V.2 )

To see what you are working with

4th Remember God has an Answer for this Place ( V.4 )

1st Ezekiel had A Deadly Condition ( V. 1 )

2nd Ezekiel had A Divine Commission ( V.1A )

3rd Ezekiel had A Dynamic Completion

1st God has Assigned you to this Place ( V.1 )

2nd God has Anointed you for this Place ( V.1 )

3rd God wants you to take Assessment of this Place ( V.2 )

4th remember God has an Answer for this Place ( V.4 )