God's Not Done

Back to Life - week 1

This morning we are starting a series titled Back to life.

There are four sermons in this series, and so we will look at four things this month.

Today we will look at God’s not done, there is hope in a dry season, looking in Ezekiel 37

Next week we will look at We are better together, Community and Belonging from Acts 2

Week 3 we will look at A new heart, Spiritual renewal from Ezekiel 36

The final week we will look at Rebuilding, Building together with God’s help from Nehemiah

With that we are looking at God’s not done, as we look at Ezekiel 37, this morning.

Ezekiel 37 is one of the most amazing and well-know prophecies in the Old Testament.

The text is presented in symbols and visions.

The main purpose of the vision in Ezekiel 37, is the restoration of Israel.

The text shows us that the power of God can bring new life to a hopeless situation such as a nation gone into exile.

Ezekiel also saw a small step concerning Israel to the realization that the same God who could resurrect a dead nation also had the power to conquer humanity’s greatest enemy, death.

As we look at our text this morning we must remember this was addressing the nation of Israel, but let’s look at how it could relate to the church, God’s people today.

Our text this morning is Ezekiel 37:1-14, but we are going to begin looking at verses 1-3.

Ezekiel 37:1–3 CSB

1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by his Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry. 3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord God, only you know.”

Pray

I. Can Dry Bones Live?

Our text begins by telling us that the hand of the Lord was upon Ezekiel, that is Ezekiel was called, anointed and being led by God.

In this whole vision Ezekiel is the subject of a special and intensified inspiration.

We are told that Ezekiel was carried out to a valley by the Spirit of the Lord.

We are not told what specific valley that Ezekiel was taken to in this vision.

The thing about this valley is that it was full of bones.

Ezekiel is in a vision here, so whether this was speaking of a specific valley full of bones or was just part of the vision to get the message across is unknown.

Ezekiel is brought by the Holy Spirit in this vision to this valley full of bones, and then is taken all throughout the valley to see the full extent of the bones.

The bodies that produced the bones were not buried, but left on the surface of the valley and there was not just a few but we are told many.

The bones were not from recent death’s but were very dry, they had been there for a long time.

God then asks Ezekiel, can these bones live?

My grandfather was in the meat business for a long time, and I have seen bones that were very dry.

Now if I was standing there looking at bones that are very dry, they are bleached white from baking in the sun, and I was asked could these bones live, my first thought would be no.

I have never seen bones gather back together and form a body, and come to life.

As we look at this text and seek to hear God’s Word for us today, as the body of Christ, God’s people, we must ask ourselves, how is this relevant for us today.

Lifeway research shows that from 34 denominations and groups representing 60% of U.S. protestant churches found that in 2019, 4,500 churches closed, and 3,000 new churches were planted.

That is a 1,500 churches that closed and were not replaced.

Just in the Southern Baptist Convention, in the 2023 annual report, which looked at part of 2022 and part of 2023, showed that 900 SBC churches closed, with 1,000 SBC churches being planted.

We may say well COVID has caused this, but there was a departure, those closing and those disaffiliating with the SBC of 1,253 in 2022, 1,003 in 2021, and 1,002 in 2020.

We must understand that there is a deeper root cause then blaming COVID, yes churches have closed due to less people attending.

We are seeing dead churches, and churches that are struggling all across this country.

As God asked Ezekiel, can these bones live?

We must ask ourselves can these churches live?

That is churches that are struggling with keeping the doors open, can they come back to healthy church life?

And as Ezekiel told God in the end of verse 3, O Lord God, You know.

II. God Provides Life

Ezekiel 37:4–10 CSB

4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.

God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over these bones.

The word prophesy here is a verb that mean to predict or speak or write by divine inspiration.

God was not calling Ezekiel to do the miracle, but rather, to speak the Divine word through which the miracle would be performed.

The significance of the command lies in the fact that it taught the prophet that he was himself to be instrumental in the great work of resuscitation.

We must understand that it is God who makes things happen, that brings the dead back to life, but He will use us as His instrument.

Ezekiel was to learn that the Word of the Lord spoken by his lips, was mighty, and would not return to him void.

Isaiah 55:11 CSB

11 so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

God tells Ezekiel in verse 5 that He will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.

The real agent, therefore, in the resuscitation of the bones was to be, not the prophet, or the word, but God Himself; and that the end aimed at by the Divine activity was life shows the breath spoken of was not to be the wind, or the Spirit, but the breath of life.

The process of reviving these bones was divided into two stages - a preliminary stage which should effect the reconstruction of the external skeleton, by bringing together its different parts and clothing them with tendons, flesh, and skin.

A final stage, which would consist of animating or putting breath in, the reconstructed Skeleton.

The results of this would be that the newly made man, would know the Lord.

God gave the instructions of what Ezekiel was to prophesy, and then Ezekiel spoke as he was instructed too.

As Ezekiel spoke the words commanded to him by God, things began to happen, there was a noise that of bones rattling together, which was the bones coming together, it was the restructuring of the skeleton.

As the bones came together the sinews, which are the ligaments and tendons that hold bones together and the muscles to the bones.

The flesh grew on the bones and skin began to cover everything.

Thus forming a human body.

This was the preliminary stage, and then comes the final stage.

In verse 9, Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy to the breath.

Ezekiel is told to prophesy to the four winds, which indicates the four quarters of heaven.

God was supplying the breath needed to bring all the bones, that have formed into bodies to life.

Ezekiel once again obeys God’s instructions to prophesy, and as he speaks breath begins to come into the bodies.

As breath came into the bodies, they came to life and stood on their feet, and we are told it was an exceedingly great army.

As we see that it is God that supplied life back into these dry dead bones, it is God that supplies the life of a church.

We are to be obedient to what He tells us, how He leads us, and be used by Him as an instrument, but it is He who supplies life.

Just as there were stages to these dry bones coming back to life, there are steps and stages that must happen for a church to come back to life.

The bones had to come back together, then tendons had to rejoin them to each other, then flesh had to cover the bones, and then skin covered it all.

That was just the starting point.

There are steps that are needed for a church to come back to life, things have to be brought back together, they must be connected, they must be covered in prayer, and led by God.

As the bones formed this body, it was God that then provided the breath of life for the bodies to come to life.

As the church comes back together to form the body of Christ in that local area, it is God the provides the life that makes the church healthy.

III. Be Filled with the Spirit

Ezekiel 37:11–14 CSB

11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, my people, and lead you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am the Lord, my people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 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 am the Lord. I have spoken, and I will do it. This is the declaration of the Lord.’ ”

Here we are given what most considered the Divine interpretation of the vision.

God speaks to Ezekiel telling him that these bones that have come together and brought life is the whole house of Israel.

That is it is the nation of Israel.

The nation of Israel said, our bones are dried up and our hope has perished.

The meaning is that the vital force of the nation was gone.

The people of Israel had lost hope that they would never return to their own land or regain national existence.

They continue saying, We are completely cut off.

They are saying we are lost, we are reduced, we are cut off from the land of the living, it is all over for us.

Many times we look at our circumstances and think well this is it, we will not recover from this.

We are to far gone to come back from this.

On Wednesday nights we have been looking at the life of Elijah, and as he was staying with a widow in a city that was predominately Baal worshippers.

The widow’s son dies, and she comes the Elijah and is like you have come to me to reveal my sins, and now my son is dead.

But Elijah takes the boy, goes to the room he was staying in, and prays that God would restore the life to the boy.

This was the first time in Scripture that a miracle of resurrection had occurred.

The thing was that Elijah had faith that his God could answer that prayer.

We may look at a dead church and think well there is no recovering from that, but we must remember it is not us that hold life but it is God who supplies life.

As the nation of Israel felt there was no hope for them, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to them that He would bring them out of the graves and restore them to life.

The people of Israel had lost hope, but if they would return to God, He would restore them, to life, to their land, and give them hope once again.

All this that the nation of Israel would know that God is the Lord, that it was not a false god that did this, but the one true God.

God tells them that He will put His Spirit in them and they will know that it was God that did it.

When God restores life to a church, He places His Spirit in the people and the whole community will know that it is God that has done the work.

Let me share briefly of a friend that has planted a church in Ashley, IL.

There was a church building that had closed in the town, and there was no longer a protestant church in the city or area.

Working with the North American Mission Board, Joel was able to get the church building and plant a church there, just over a year ago, there was no church in Ashley.

Now they are growing, from nothing to just recently for no special service just a regular Sunday morning they had 67 people in attendance.

I share that to say that God can bring new life to a church, and He can bring new life to this church, if we are obedient and follow His leading.

As Ezekiel spent time with the Lord, God gave him a vision of life coming back to the nation of Israel.

We must spend time in prayer and seeking God, that He might lead us back to life.

I have been personally praying that God would give me the wisdom and guidance in leading this church.

I ask that you would be praying that God would do a might work here in this church.

Something so great that people can only say wow look what God has done.

Let me close with saying, that some times we lose hope in our personal lives.

We feel like we are to far gone, that we are not good enough for God to help us.

We may think, why would God, want me or use me.

We may even be like I am of no use, I have no hope, I might as well just end it.

Let me say that I have battled those things in my life.

Twelve years or more ago, I would have told you that I couldn’t be a pastor, that I would not get up and speak in front of people.

You may think but your a good person.

Let me say, we all have skeletons in the closet, I have done things that I am not proud of, things that you would never think of a pastor doing, yes they were before I became a pastor.

You may also doubt that God can save you, or use you, or love you.

I have also battled doubt in my life.

I say all that to say, God is not looking for a perfect person, He is not wanting you to get clean before you come to Him.

He wants you right where you are today, no matter what you have done in the past.

He knows there are things you are not completely sure of today about the Bible and about Him, but He wants you to come to Him and allow Him to reveal Himself to you.

He wants you to turn your eyes upon Jesus, and receive the free gift of salvation today.

As we sing a song of invitation, will you come and allow me to share more about the love of Jesus with you and pray with you.