Dry Bones in Death Valley

Text: Ezekiel 37:1-4

Introduction: A valley of dry bones! This sounds like a lot of churches in America today.

1. People are no longer showing up
2. Nothing but strife is being stirred up
3. Everyone has stopped looking up
4. Therefore congregations are giving up
5. Thus Churches are closing up

· We have allowed the enemy to slip in and steal our joy, our peace, and most of all, our faith.

· Just as a vulture preys on weakened animals, so the enemy preys on weakened Christians.

Ezekiel is one of the four great prophets. He was a priest, and the son of Buzi.

He was taken captive with Jehoiachin about eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem.
His prophetic career began about five years after being captured.
His only reference to himself, informs us that he was married and had a house.
His wife died as a result of sudden and unforeseen stroke.
He was murdered in Babylon by a Jewish Prince, whom he had convicted of idolatry, and he was buried in the tomb of Sham, on the banks of the Euphrates River.

The Prophet himself wrote the book of Ezekiel. His task was to impress upon the exiles the fact that calamity had come because of their own sinfulness.

He declared in the 18th chapter and verse four that, "The soul that sinned, it shall die." His prophecy was about the "Great Doctrine of Personal Responsibility." He declared "God does not delight in the death of the wicked." He cries, "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?"

Transition: In the text, is perhaps one of the most profound questions in biblical writings? God himself confronts the great visionary Ezekiel; we hear God asking a mere man, a question that requires great insight, and great wisdom.

I believed this morning, this is why God didn't ask just anybody this question.

· He could have carried anybody, out into this valley of dry bones, but instead He chose a man with a vision.

· He could have chosen a "Medical Doctor", one with degrees from the most prestigious Medical School of the day.

· He could have chosen an "Anthropologist", one well versed in the study of the physical make-up of man.

· God could have selected a "Historian", one that perhaps knew much of the ancestral dealings of these people, for they were not merely bones, no one comes into this world without flesh and blood, no one comes into this world just bones.

These bones were the remnants of men and women that had once lived; there was some history behind these bones.

· But God in His Omniscience, God in His Omnipotence, God in His ability to do all things,

· He doesn't consult with medical doctors, He doesn't consult with an Anthropologist, He wants to know nothing of their history,

· All God wants know is "Can these Bones Live?"

That's just how God is; He is not concerned with what you used to do; God is not losing sleep or wasting time trying to remember, and on to what you used to do.

God is concerned my brothers and sisters with what you can do, and what you will do. We are the ones who try to hold people, even ourselves in bondage with the past.

God is not concerned with what we used to be, He is only interested in what we shall become. The Apostle Paul said, "Forgetting those things, which are behind, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

God doesn't want to know of these bones history, He wants to know can they live. So look at whom he raises this question to; a Prophet, a man of vision, so many times in our lives, we consult everybody but God's man.

We look to the Doctors, we look to the Lawyers, and we look to those that are learned and well versed in our areas of concern.

But we need to hear again the "Word of God"; He says without a vision, the people perish. You ought to thank God for a man of vision. You ought to thank God when your Pastor has a vision.

Because the Doctor will depend on what he knows, and when what he knows doesn't line up with what you need, he'll tell you, I've done all that I can do.
A Lawyer when he has exhausted all of the resources of his learning, when he has expended all of his Judicial reasoning, He will tell you that you are at the mercy of the court.
But when you go to God's man, and when he is a man of vision, no matter how dark it gets, no matter how dismal your situation become, God's man, because he knows God, will tell you that the Lord will make a way somehow.

A profound question, a question of great depth, can you imagine looking upon this heap of bones, not only were they bones, they were dry bones, which suggest to me that these bones were not only void of the life that once surrounded them, these bones had no life even in themselves.

The marrow within the bones, had dried out, no moisture, no life whatsoever, these bones were deader that dead, but God raises the question, "Can these bones live."

God has been known to ask questions, and we know that He knows the answer already, but God has been known to ask a question every now and then.

· Remember, He asked Adam, "Where art thou"

· He asked Moses, "What is that you have in your hand"

· He asked Elijah, "What are you doing here under this Juniper tree"

· He asked Malachi, "Will a man rob God"

· And here we find Him asking Ezekiel, "Can these bones live"

1. Not whose bones they were, but can they live

2. Not what happened to them, but can they live

3. Not who their parents and grandparents were, but can they live

4. Not what neighborhood they were from, but can they live

5. Not what churches they belong too, not what kind of jobs they had, not their social or economic status in their community, but can they live.

That's the question God asked Ezekiel. Well, I believe God is asking us this same question today.

· New Hope, can these bones live

· You might ask what bones, what are you talking about Pastor,

· Some of you might say, Pastor, we're not in a valley, we're not in a desert place, and furthermore there are no bones here.

Well church, I'm sorry, but I must disagree;

· We are in a valley, when there are more of our young people behind bars, than in College.

· We are in a valley when our young men and women can not find jobs

· We are in a valley when the crime rate escalating, when teenage pregnancy is on the rise

· We are in a valley when young boys and girls twelve and thirteen years old, know more about the birds and the bees than their mothers and fathers

· We are in a valley when its okay to kill little babies by abortion

· We are in a valley I tell you, when men are marrying men, and women are marrying women

· We are in a valley when women are preaching and pastoring churches

But not only that, we have our share of dry bones in this valley. If you want to know where they are, ride through some of the streets of our cities.

Look at that young boy and young girl that stays out past midnight, you will find dry bones. Some of you have dry bones in your own home;

· That son, that daughter, that has no motivation in life

· No get up and go about themselves

· No goals for the future, just dry bones

· We can find dry bones in church on Sunday

· Dry bones because they think they have live,

· They think they are saved, but because of their rebellion towards God, they are merely dry bones.

So God questions Ezekiel, "Can these bones live", and Ezekiel responds in that 3rd verse, "O Lord God, thou know".

That suggest to me, that whatever the answer is, Ezekiel realized that the answer was not in him, but the answer, if there was an answer, Ezekiel knew that the answer had to be in God.

That suggest to me, that we should never get to the point, where we think we know it all. We ought to be willing to admit, that there are some things that we don't have the answers for, there are some problems that we don't know how to solve.

We ought to have sense enough to know, that there is nothing to hard for God. That's why David said, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help."

He realized that the answer he needed

· wasn't down here,

· it wasn't in man,

· It wasn't in some library

· It wasn't down here

· Can these bones live, Yes they can live

We can bring life back into our communities; we restore hope for our young men and women. But in order to do this, there are a couple of things that we must do. Number one, Ezekiel says in verse one that the hand of the Lord was upon him, and that God carried him out in the spirit.

If we are to bring revival to our city, if we are to bring revival into our homes, if we are to bring new life into our young people, we have to learn how to walk in the spirit.

We've got to stop trying to be like everybody else, and we have to be transformed by the Renewing of our minds. God cannot use us, until we get in the Spirit.

That's why Jesus said in Matthew, that he is a spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth.

New life begins in the spirit.

1. There wouldn't be so many dry Prayers, if people would get in the spirit.

2. There wouldn't be so many dry songs, if people would get in the spirit.

3. There wouldn't be so many dry attitudes, if people would get in the Spirit.

There wouldn't be so many dry sermons, if people would get in the spirit.
We need to let the Holy Spirit have control of our lives.
The second thing we need to do is in verse 4. God told Ezekiel, to Prophesy upon the

Bones, and tell the bones, to hear the word of the Lord.

I cannot stress Evangelism enough. Because people need to know, that God is still in control. People need to know that God is still making ways out of no ways; God is still a heart fixer, and a mind regulator.

Conclusion:

As I move to a close, we need to admit to ourselves, that we stand in the midst of this valley of dry bones. We need to hear again this question from the Lord; can these bones live? Deacons, can these bones live? Church, can these bones live?

I am a man of vision, and I believe that these bones can live.

· I believe in spite of the darkness of the day in which we live, I believe these bones can live.

· I believe that no matter how dark it gets, I believe that Jesus is still the light of the world.

· I believe that no matter how many clouds cloud our sky; I believe that Jesus is still the bright and morning star.

· I believe no matter how many weeds there are in our Garden of life. I believe that Jesus is still the Lily of the valley; He's still the sweet Rose of Sharon.

· He's still a rock in a weary land

· He's still a way maker

· He's still Jehovah Jireh, God our provider

· He's still Jehovah Nissi, God our banner

· He's still El Shaddai, God almighty and

· He's still the Great I Am