03-20-2022 - Sermon - Can These Bones Live?

SCRIPTURE

Ezekiel 37:1–14 NKJV

1 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”

MESSAGE

God gave Ezekiel a vision of the restoration of Israel. Ezekiel prophesied during the time of the Babylonian exile. Israel had been defeated by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. The Temple had been destroyed. Their way of life had been turned upside down. To the Israelites, it must have felt like they had been completely defeated and that there was no hope left for restoration.

In our Scripture reading, God showed Ezekiel a vision of a valley full of dry bones that represented the nation of Israel. These dry bones were once a mighty army. But there was nothing left but dry bones. In fact, these bones were described as very dry. In other words, they were not just dead, but it seemed that all hope of life and restoration was gone. There was no marrow left in the bones they were dry and useless. From a human perspective, the only thing that these bones were good for was burying.

So God showed Ezekiel this valley full of dry bones and asked him a question, “Can These Bones Live?” Now Ezekiel was probably thinking, “No way, Jose.” But he’s not going to tell God that. So Ezekiel gave God the safe answer, “Oh Lord God, you know.”

Then God told Ezekiel to do something that probably sounded completely ridiculous. God said, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them ‘O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.’” God told Ezekiel to preach to a pile of dead, dry bones and to declare to them, “This is what the Lord says. I’m going to put you back together. I’m going to cover you with muscles, tendons, and skin once again and I’m going to cause the breath of life to enter you again and you shall live!

For some of you, you may feel like there are some things in your life that are dead and dried up and are good for nothing else than to just be buried. You may feel like there is no hope for that dream or for that promise that you’ve been holding onto. You may feel like your situation is hopeless, but no matter how dry the bones may be, Jesus can still breathe life back into your situation! There is no situation too messed up that Jesus can not fix. There is no lost family member too far gone that Jesus can not save! There is no prayer too difficult that Jesus can not answer!

So Ezekiel prophesied to the bones, and the bones began to rattle! There was a shaking all over the valley of death. And God began to put the pieces back together in their proper order. The foot bone was connected to the ankle bone. The leg bone was connected to the hip bone. Sinews and muscle and flesh began to cover the bones until Ezekiel saw a mighty army being assembled again.

Some of you here today might just need to start prophesying to some dead things in your life! Maybe you need to start speaking some faith to your doubt! Maybe you need to start reminding your problems how big your God is! Maybe you need to take off the spirit of heaviness and put on a garment of praise! Jesus can put the pieces back together again! You’ve just got to be willing to give Him all the pieces and not hold anything back from Him! Give it all to Him this morning! Hear the sound of dry bones rattling!

But this wasn’t enough. There was a mighty army assembled before Ezekiel, but there was no breath in them yet. They stood up and looked like a mighty army, but they were still dead. They looked ok on the outside, but there was no life and no power in them.

We’ve got to understand that everything can look good on the outside. We can setup our facebook timeline to make it look like we’ve got it all together. We can trim it, cover it, put makeup on it, botox it, tan it, and do anything else we want to do to it. We can dress up the outside, but we can be spiritually dead on the inside!

Matthew 23:27 NKJV

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly. There is no life apart from the Source of life, Jesus Christ! The word “breath” in this passage is the Hebrew word, “ruah,” which can mean “breath” or “spirit.” You see the breath of God and the Spirit of God are the same thing. God breathed into the first man Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul. Without the breath of God, Adam would have been nothing more than a bag of bones. But when God breathed his breath, His Spirit, into Adam he came alive! When you allow the Spirit of God to infiltrate you, He puts His life into you. Before you come to Him you are dead in your trespasses and sins, but after you come to Jesus, He breathes His breath in you and raises you to newness of life!

So God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the breath, to the wind. Ezekiel prayed, “breath of God, breathe on these slain, and bring life back into them again!” All of a sudden, dead things started coming back to life. The army of Israel was once dead. They were was once just a pile of dead bones baking in the sun. But now God brought life back into them and they stood on their feet. An army that was once defeated, began to rise up as a mighty army of the Lord once again!

This passage is about the restoration of Israel. And that process began in 1948 when Israel became a nation again. And it will ultimately be fulfilled when Israel turns to Jesus at His Second Coming at the end of the Great Tribulation. But I believe that God has a message for us today in this story. God is going to raise up a mighty army of Christ-followers in these last days. The church has been dead and dried up and useless for far too long. God is raising up some men and women of God, some like Ezekiel, who will prophesy to the bones, who will preach to dead things, who will not be afraid to proclaim the Word of God, who will preach until dry bones start rattling. Who will prophesy to the wind, who will get filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, who will pray until they are endued with the power of the Holy Spirit, and who will let God use them to bring souls to Christ! The church has become a laughingstock to the world. The church has become irrelevant to the world. The church has become a valley of dry bones that are powerless, lifeless, and useless, and wasting away. It is time for the church to come alive again! It’s time for dry bones to start rattling! It’s time for the breath, the Spirit of God, to move in the church again!

God told Ezekiel that the people were saying, “our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.” In other words, it’s over, the situation is hopeless, there is no need to keep trying, we just need to admit we’re defeated. But God tells Ezekiel to prophesy one more time. This time, Ezekiel is to prophesy to the resurrected army and tell them, “Thus saith the Lord, I’m about to open up some graves. You are about to see Me bring some dead things back to life. I’m going to put My Spirit in you. I am going to put My life in you. I’ve already spoken it and I will perform it, saith the Lord.”

You might be one of those sitting here today and listening to this message and saying, “our bones are dry, our hope is lost.” But I prophesy to you today, it ain’t over! God is going to bring some dead things back to life! God is going to do some things that all the negative Nancy’s think are impossible! God is going to do some things that the Debbie downers say will never happen! It ain’t over until God says it’s over. And God says, it ain’t over yet! He is calling your name today and He’s saying, “come out of your grave!” Come out of that place of hopelessness and despair! Let God breath the breath of His Holy Spirit and empower your life! Just like God promised Israel that He would bring her back to her land and restore her again, God will do the same thing for you today!

CLOSING

Can these bones live? Yes they can! God can bring dead things back to life!

If you’re lost and you do not know Jesus as your Savior, He can give you eternal life!

If you’re backslid on God, He can raise you back to life again!

If you need a personal revival Jesus can set your soul on fire!

If you need a miracle and it seems hopeless, Jesus can bring dead things back to life!

ALTAR CALL