The Church Bone Yard

Ezekiel 37:1–10 KJV 1900

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, 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. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 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. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

The Church Bone Yard

Text: Ezekiel 37:1-10

INTRODUCTION: This valley of dry bones was Ezekiel's congregation. They were lifeless and very dry. Many of our modern congregations are just as dry and dead. Let us note some of the names of the bones in our churches today.

THE WISHBONE CHURCH MEMBERS (Too lazy to work) Bury their talents Like the 10 spies they always find an excuse. Like Gideon's 22,000 they are too fearful and afraid.

THE FUNNYBONE CHURCH MEMBERS (Always getting their feelings hurt) The elder brother type (Luke 15) Always falling out with someone at church. The preacher must pamper and beg them to go to church.

THE DRY BONE CHURCH MEMBERS (Never say Amen or shed a tear) The Pharisee type. Loves the letter of the law but cries down any emotion Spiritually this crowd is as dead as Ezekiel's bone yard.

THE HIP BONE CHURCH MEMBERS (Touchy about their giving) The hitch-hiker type. They won't to serve God on their credit. Their religion does not reach their hip-pocket.

THE JAW BONE CHURCH MEMBERS (Church tattlers) The Simeon Peter type (always bragging). Always sowing discord. James calls a gossiping tongue a world on fire.

THE KNEE BONE CHURCH MEMBERS (The Wednesday night crowd) The praying type The ones who will pay the price on their knees for revival. The ones that are the faithful ones to Christ and the Church.

THE BACK BONE CHURCH MEMBERS (The Christians with real convictions) The Daniel type. Like Paul they will stand for the faith once delivered unto the saints. Like Steven they stand true until the end.