I would like to direct your attention
back to the book of Ezekiel tonight, to Ezekiel chapter 37, if you
would turn in your Bibles there. This morning, I dealt with part
of the prophecy, the word of God through the prophet Ezekiel
in chapter 36 concerning the covenant of salvation. the blessed
covenant of salvation, which is the covenant of grace, which
is that unilateral covenant in which God speaks from His sovereign
throne of His power to save His people, to save us from our sins,
expressed in these words and The last part of Ezekiel 36,
God saying over and over again, I will, you shall, I will, you
shall. And I wanted to make clear that
this is a prophecy of the new covenant. Several times in the
Old Testament, we'll see clear spelled out prophecies of the
new covenant. The New Testament, which refers
to the time of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah
into the world, his doing his great work. And then the instituting
and inaugurating the church age, the new covenant age, which I
believe was set forth there in the passage of scripture that
Brother Mark read in Acts chapter two. That age that we now live
in. the New Covenant age and to understand
that the gospel is the preaching and the presentation of the terms
of that covenant as all of its terms have been fulfilled and
established by the Lord Jesus Christ as the substitute and
surety of his people. Now over in Ezekiel chapter 37
and verse 26, This covenant is called an everlasting
covenant. And that's the title of tonight's
message, the everlasting covenant. He says, moreover, I will make
a covenant of peace with them. And that's peace established
between God and his people through the cross. Paul wrote about that
in Colossians chapter one, the peace of God, which is past understanding
as it is applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And he says
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, the everlasting covenant. Now, in this passage of chapter
37, I know that you've heard probably several messages on
this. This is what is called the vision
of the valley of dry bones. That's half of the chapter. And
then there's a a lesson, an object lesson given by the prophet of
two sticks or two rods. And we'll talk about that. And
I'm going to read through this chapter and I have, there's so
much that we could be, that could be said about this. I want to
give you some, some things to think about and some things to
study in your own private study of the scriptures that you can
look at. to understand, I hope, by the
power of God, the Holy Spirit, what these issues are all about,
what this means for us today. And what you have here, as the
book of Ezekiel, as the prophet has prophesied of the coming
time of the Messiah, And it's clear that that's what this is
all about because it's connected, as I said this morning, back
up here in chapter 36 with the regathering of God's people,
the regathering of Israel. And Israel here, I believe, is
emblematic of all of God's people, God's elect out of every tribe
and nation. And I believe that that can be
proven easily from the Scripture, from several parallel prophecies
of the Old Testament, also through the commentary of the New Testament
that is given over and over again concerning true Israel. Specifically, I can think of
where the Apostle Paul in Romans 2 and verse 28 said, For he is
not a Jew, which is one outwardly, but he is one which is a Jew,
which is one inwardly. And circumcision is not that
of the flesh, but that which is of the heart. And it's clear
that Ezekiel is describing the circumcision of the heart here.
The new birth, regeneration and conversion. Christ told Nicodemus,
who was a physical ethnic Jew, standing in physical Jerusalem,
he said, you must be born again or you cannot enter the kingdom
of heaven. And so that's very significant, you must be born
again or you can't see the kingdom of heaven. And the flesh has
nothing to do with this, that which is born of the flesh is
flesh, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit. So you
have the regathering of Israel. That regathering of Israel is
based upon redemption by the blood. Remember in Ezekiel 36,
25, I will sprinkle clean water upon you. That's the blood of
Christ washing away our sins. And that regathering based on
redemption brings the fruit of regeneration, the new birth. And that's when he says, I will
give you a new heart. I will take away the stony heart. I'll put my spirit, a new spirit
within you. I will take away the stony heart.
I will give you a heart of flesh." Now, in chapter 37, we see an
explanation through two means. One is a vision, and the other
is an object lesson of how God is going to accomplish this.
The vision is the vision of the valley of the dry bones, and
what he is showing here is that this great work of salvation,
this great work of regeneration, number one, it is totally, completely
the work of a sovereign, powerful God. It's not the work of man.
You know, the Apostle John wrote about that in John chapter 1
when he was speaking of Christ as the Word who came to this
world, the Word made flesh dwelling among us. It said, he came unto
his own and his own received him not. And then he says, but
as many as received him, to them gave he power. And the word power
there in verse 12 doesn't mean ability. It means the right,
the privilege to be sons of God or to be called, identified as
sons of God, which were born, he said, not of blood. In other words, it wasn't of
the flesh, wasn't of physical heritage. He said, nor the will
of the flesh, which means the works of the flesh. They weren't
born of physical heritage. They weren't born because of
their works. Salvation is not by works, but
it's by grace. And nor of the will of man. It
wasn't of the will of what people call today the free will of man.
That's nonexistent. Man's will is not free. His will
is in bondage to sin, just like every other part of our fallen
nature. But this is a work of God, a
sovereign God. Also, he shows through the vision
of the Valley of Dry Bones that this work is a literal resurrection
from the dead. Look at it, verse 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. He caused me to pass by them round about and behold,
there were very many in the open valley and lo, they were very
dry. Indicating that this is spiritual
death. The scripture teaches that we're
all born spiritually dead, and I'll tell you a parallel passage
to this whole chapter 37 that you'll find in the New Testament
is Ephesians chapter 2. Which begins and you have he
quickened who were what dead in trespasses and sins. And so
they were very dry. And listen to what he says, he
said unto me, son of man, can these bones live? It's a good
question. And here's the only right answer.
Oh, Lord God, thou knowest, you know. Man doesn't have any ability
to give or sustain life. Can these bones live? Only God
knows. Only God has the power to give
life from the dead. Only God has the power. to regenerate
a dead sinner and bring that sinner to a saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen. And so he says in
verse four again, he said to me, prophesy, preach unto these
bones and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the
Lord. Now, that doesn't just that that
just doesn't seem logical, does it? They're dead. They don't
have ears. Why would you preach to them?
Why would you tell them to hear the Word of the Lord? They're
spiritually dead. They're dead. Well, why do it? I'll tell you
exactly why. Because God said to do it. God
said to do it. And listen, He says in verse
5, Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause
breath to enter into you, and you shall live. There's the power
of God to give life. Remember, I quoted this morning
Romans chapter 8 and verse 10, which says the body is dead because
of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. The
spirit of God coming in the power of the word to give life to dead
sinners. And it's all the work of God. It's not the work of man. It's
not even our cooperation. Dead bones cannot even cooperate.
Can these bones live? Oh, Lord God, thou knowest. And
so God says, I will. Now there's that covenant again.
I will cause breath. And that word breath is the same
word in the Old Testament that's used for the spirit. I will cause
breath to enter into you and you shall live. That's a miracle of grace. And I always think about this
when I when I deal with passages of scripture like this. That
if you truly if I truly believe the gospel. If we truly believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ and rest in him for all salvation,
we are really walking miracles of God's grace. That's right. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. Neither can he know. And I can
remember when I first began to hear the gospel preached in Ashland,
Kentucky. I didn't want to be there. I
went there for one reason because my mother was there and I just
hated to see her go to church by herself. And so I went and
sat and listened and I can remember how I hated the message of God's
free and sovereign grace. I can remember that. I used to
tell my mother, I used to tell her about Brother Mahan, I said,
he preaches like he's mad at the world. And I said, he preaches
in a way that makes me mad at him. I just didn't want it. That's
total depravity. But one day, and I don't know
when, and it doesn't matter to me, I'm not trying to figure
out a date or a time, that's not the issue, but at some point
in time, God sent His Spirit to breathe life into this dead
sinner's soul and brought me to love the very message I hated
and then eventually to preach it. It's an amazing thing. You shall live. Now, life comes
from Christ. Sin demands death. The wages
of sin is death, for by sin came death. Life comes by righteousness,
and that righteousness is in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.
He goes on in verse 6, he said, I'll lay sinews upon you, will
bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, that protective
covering. One commentator said that that's
symbolic of the imputed righteousness of Christ. That robe of righteousness
that covers every believer and turns back the accusations of
Satan in the world and even the flesh, because we're good at
accusing ourselves. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's an amazing thing that we
stand in Christ and can say with David of old, blessed is the
man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. I need that every
day. How about you? Oh, Lord, if thou
shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? Not me, not you,
not any human being born of Adam. And he says, I'll cover you with
skin and he says, I'll put breath in you. That's the spirit. And
you shall live and you shall know that I am the Lord, a saving
knowledge of Christ and him crucified. How his blood washes me clean
from all my sins. how His righteousness gives me
a perfect, eternal, uncontaminated, right standing before a holy
God so that I can boldly come to the throne of grace, that
I can enter into the holiest of all, Hebrews chapter 10, half
by the blood of Jesus Christ. I am accepted before God in the
Beloved and by His Spirit He has given me a new heart and
a new spirit, a new mind so that I can cling to Christ and live
my life looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith.
And so in verse seven, I love this. So Ezekiel turned to the
Lord and said, well, wait a minute, Lord, why preach to these dry
bones? They can't hear me. They can't live. They don't have
ears. No. What did he say? So I prophesied,
I preached. as I was commanded. I did what
God said to do. I love that. He said, and I prophesied,
there was noise. As I prophesied, there was noise,
and behold, a shaking. That's what the Spirit of God
does to God's people under the preaching of the gospel in power.
He shakes our world, doesn't He? He shook mine. He shook my
whole world, my whole way of thinking. The disciples It was
described by them, turning the world upside down. That which
I thought was good and righteous and holy, now in light of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified, and what it took for Him to put away
my sins and justify me before God, in light of Christ, I count
all that but done that I may win Christ and be found in Him.
Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Jesus Christ, the righteousness
of God, which is by faith. He said a shaking and the bones
came together, bone to his bone, God bringing it all together.
This is the creative power of God in the conversion of a sinner. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews
and the flesh came up upon them, the skin covered them above,
but there was no breath in them. You see, there's the justification
of a sinner, and then there's the giving life, the regeneration
of a sinner. Verse 9, Then he said unto me,
Prophesy unto the wind, that's the spirit, prophesy, son of
man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from
the four winds, north, south, east, west, 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 and exceeding great army. What a miracle of
grace. And it's all the work of God.
Now, it's true. He uses pitiful instruments like
us to accomplish his with clay pots. That's what Paul said.
We have this treasure, we have such a treasure, but we have
it in earthen vessels. But this is the work of God.
A sinner saved by grace, looking to Christ, resting in Him, that
sinner is a new creation. Who created him? God did, through
Christ. Now, verse 11, he says, Then
he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house
of Israel. Now, I don't have time to go
into all the scriptures tonight. that I could show you on this,
but I believe that the whole house of Israel here is speaking
of spiritual Israel. I know there are many in today's
religious atmosphere who call that replacement theology. I
don't believe it's replacement theology. I don't believe God
replaced the nation Israel with the church. I believe what it
is, is fulfillment theology. God fulfilling what he promised
to do all along. But I'll show you some of these
things. Israel, spiritual Israel, as I mentioned, we have the Old
Testament prophecy that speaks of it. We have New Testament
commentary that speaks of it. Paul in Romans 9 said, they are
not all Israel, which are of Israel. It's the children of
the promise who are counted for the seed. Who are the children
of the promise? Those who look to Christ. Galatians
chapter 3, verse 25 through 29. That's the New Testament teaching.
And it's clear here this, that whoever he's talking about here
in these passages, it's a regathering of people, again, based on redemption
by the blood, which results in the regeneration of dead sinners
under the headship of Christ. It's not just bringing people
from the four winds to occupy a piece of real estate. It's
the regathering of his people under the headship of Christ.
These are believers. These are regenerated. They've
been born again by the Spirit. They've received him, not because
of their bloodline, not because of their works, not because of
their will. They've been made willing in
the day of God's power. But God said it this way, I will,
you shall. I will, you shall. So this is
the whole house of Israel. God's elect out of every tribe,
kindred, tongue and nation. And this doesn't exclude anybody
who is ethnically, physically an Israelite, because any sinner
who comes to Christ and begs for salvation will receive it.
Any of them. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me and unto the world. And he said,
for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything
nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. So he says in verse
11, behold, they say our bones are dried. Our hope is lost.
We're cut off for our parts. That's that's our state before
God brings us to Christ. And he says in verse 12, therefore
prophesying, saying to them, thus saith the Lord God, behold,
all my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come
up out of your graves. You see, this is resurrection.
That's what the new birth is. The new birth is not just some
kind of reformation. It's not just some kind of a
psychological ploy used by preachers with background music to try
to persuade emotionally people to walk an aisle. This is a resurrection
from the dead. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sin. And he said, I'll open your graves.
I'll cause you to come up out of your graves. I'll bring you
into the land of Israel. And as I mentioned this morning,
read in Hebrews 11 and 12 and 13 what that land is. It's not just an earthly land,
it's a heavenly land. It's a, it's a, we are citizens
of a heavenly kingdom. We haven't come to a physical
mountain like Sinai, but we've come to Mount Sinai and to the
heavenly Jerusalem. Christ told his disciples, you're
in the world, but you're not of the world. He said, the world
is opposed to you. The world will come against you.
You'll have trouble from the world. But don't be afraid. I've
overcome the world. Verse 13, he says, You shall
know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, saving
knowledge of Christ. Oh, my people brought you up
out of your graves and shall put my spirit in you. You see
how this is emphasized here. That he's talking about people
who have been born again by the Spirit. They've been ruined by
the fall. That's their deadness. Our deadness. Redeemed by the blood. That's
the ground of our salvation. Regenerated by the Spirit. That's
the fruit of salvation. You shall live, he says, and
I shall place you in your own land and you shall know that
I, the Lord, have spoken and performed it, saith the Lord.
That's the vision of the valley. of dry bones. Now, the Bible
says in Hebrews chapter 1 that in these times past that God
has spoken to his people through his prophets in various ways. One way is by visions. He gave
Ezekiel the vision. Another way is by object lessons. And that's what comes next. And
this is a lesson in two sticks. Look at it. Verse 15, the word
of the Lord came again unto me saying, moreover, thou son of
man, take the one stick or you could say one rod. And write
upon it, write something on this rod, and here's what you write
for Judah. And for the children of Israel,
his companions, then take another stick and write upon it for Joseph. The stick of Ephraim. And for all the house of Israel,
his companions, two sticks. Join them one to another, he
says, into one stick. Put them together, hold them
up. This is something that Ezekiel was to literally, physically
do to these two rods. And they shall become one in
thine hand. They're united together. Now
you know about the divided kingdom. After Solomon, you had the Northern
Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed
and taken captive and just set out into the Gentile world by
the Assyrian Empire. And then now we're talking about
the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, how now they're
being disseminated, in a sense, and brought to Babylon. And of
course, he is talking about a united kingdom here. He's talking about
the kingdom will no longer be divided, but it will be united.
And it would be a good exercise for you to read Ephesians chapter
2 in parallel with this, because that's exactly what the Apostle
Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write in Ephesians
2 about the coming together of what he calls one new man, which
is God's elect out of every tribe, kindred, tongue and nation, Jew
and Gentile coming together under the grace of God, under the headship
of Christ, no longer divided, no longer segmented. And how
many times in the scripture does he say, in Christ Jesus, there's
neither Jew nor Greek, Jew nor Gentile. In other words, that
distinction is no longer significant for God's purpose. They're brought
together. But I want you to notice something
here. Let's read on verse 18. He says, And when the children
of my people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show
us what thou meanest by these? What does this mean? These two
sticks? One has Judah and Israel written on it. Well, you know
the significance of Judah. Judah was the kingly tribe. That's
the royal tribe. That's the tribe of David. It's
the tribe of the kings. It's the tribe through which
Jesus Christ came according to the flesh. He's the king of kings. You remember when Jacob, or Israel,
as he was called by them, was laying on his deathbed and blessing
his sons? He spoke of Judah. How Judah
was the lion's wealth. How Judah would be elevated above
his brethren. His brethren would bow to him. And then he made that great prophecy
how the scepter would not depart from Judah until Shiloh come.
That's Christ. Judah has the preeminence. And
then he has this other stick and he has Joseph, the stick
of Ephraim. What about that? What's the significance
of that? Well, hold on. He says in verse 19, saying to
them, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I will take the stick
of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim. Now, the stick of
Joseph is in the hand of Ephraim. And the tribes of Israel, his
fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah,
and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand,
one in God's hand, united in God's hand. Verse 20, The sticks
whereon thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes,
and saying to them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will
take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whether they
be gone, and will gather them on every side and bring them
into their own land. See the same language of the
covenant right here. I will make them one nation in
the land upon the mountains of Israel. One king shall be king
to them all. Now, when they came back out
of captivity from Babylon, They didn't have a king. Now, I know
Zerubbabel led them in, but he was not the king. He was from
the tribe of Judah. But they never did have another
king. Now, some people say, well, that's talking about way off
in the millennium somewhere. Well, listen to what it says.
Now, again, remember, don't remove this from what's been read before
about the dead, the dry bones and about what he said in Ezekiel
36 about he'll give them one heart. He's going to be one king.
Shall be to them all that King is Christ. He's the king of kings and he
says, and there shall be no more two nations, neither shall they
be divided into two kingdoms anymore at all, neither shall
they defile themselves anymore with their idols nor with their
detestable things. Be no more idolatry and let me
tell you something, any attempt to seek to serve To worship God
apart from Christ is idolatry. And he says, nor with any of
their transgressions. In other words, their transgressions
will be removed, but I will save them out of all their dwelling
places wherein they have sinned and will cleanse them. He says,
so will shall they be my people and I will be their God. That's
that covenant language, that covenant marriage. Now, what's
the significance of all that? Well, let me show you something.
Turn with me over to the book of Genesis chapter 48. And again, I apologize, I may
not have time to elaborate on all of this because there's so
much that you study it yourself. And here's Jacob again, who is
called Israel. And Joseph. Joseph brings his
two sons to Jacob to be blessed. Joseph had two sons by an Egyptian
woman. The eldest was named Manasseh.
The youngest was named Ephraim. And here, Joseph brings Manasseh
and Ephraim to Israel, to Jacob, for them to be blessed. Look
at verse 12 of Genesis 40. It says, And Joseph brought them
out from between his knees, these two boys, He bowed himself with
his face to the earth, and Joseph took them both Ephraim in his
right hand toward Israel's left hand." In other words, Jacob
or Israel was going to place his left hand on Ephraim, the
youngest, and then he says Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's
right hand so that Israel would place his right hand on Manasseh. This is the way Joseph knew that
it was to be done because Manasseh was the eldest. And he brought
them near unto him. And look at verse 14. And Israel
stretched out his right hand and laid upon Ephraim's head.
Now wait a minute. You're supposed to put your left
hand on Ephraim's head. He's the youngest. But no. What did Israel do? You know
what he did? Look at it. Here's what he did. He did it
this way. You see that? He crossed his
hands. And he put his right hand on
Ephraim's head. who was the younger, and his
left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly."
In other words, he knew what he was doing. That's what that
means. This was no accident. We just
don't believe in accidents, do we? He did it wittingly. For Manasseh was the firstborn.
Well, we've seen times when God switched the order of things
for his own purposes. Jacob, have I loved? Esau, have
I hated? And it says, And he blessed Joseph
and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did
walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the
angel which redeemed me from all evil. That's remember the
angel that he wrestled with. Bless the lads. Let my name be
named on them and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac,
and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And
when Joseph saw his father laid his right hand upon the head
of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father's hand
to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. Joseph
said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Manasseh's the firstborn. Your
right hand's upon him. Put thy right hand upon his head.
And his father refused, Israel refused, and said, I know it,
my son. I know it. I know what you're
saying. He also shall become a people
that is Manasseh. He'll develop into a people and
he also shall be great. But truly his younger brother
shall be greater than he. And look at this last line of
verse 19. And his seed shall become a multitude
of nations. Now, what's happening here? Joseph
receives the birthright Or rather Ephraim receives the birthright
through Joseph. As you know as well as I do that
Joseph was a type of Christ. What is the birthright? The birthright
is the blessings of God bestowed upon his people. How do we as the people of God
receive our birthright? through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who is our firstborn brother. And, you know, Reuben was Israel's
firstborn, but Reuben lost that birthright through his sin and
God gave it to Ephraim. And he also says that through
Ephraim, his seed shall become what? A multitude of nations. That goes back to the promise
made to Abraham that all nations in thee shall be blessed. How? Through the coming of Christ
into the world to save his people out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation. Let me show you one more verse
here. Turn to 1 Chronicles chapter 5. 1 Chronicles chapter 5. He starts off in verse 1 talking
about how Reuben, defiled his father's bed. And it says his
birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel.
And look at 1 Chronicles 5 verse 2. It says, for Judah prevailed
above his brethren. Now, what's that mean to us?
It means Jesus Christ has the preeminence. The scepter shall
not depart from Judah. And it says, and of him came
the chief ruler from Judah. That's Christ. But the birthright
was Joseph's given to Ephraim. You see, Christ has the preeminence
in all of this. We have the birthright. The children
of God, the blessings of God. Now go back to Ezekiel 37 and
look at verse 24. Now, every bit of this salvation,
this thing, listen to it. All the blessings of God. All
the blessings of salvation. The forgiveness of our sins.
Are you a sinner? Am I a sinner? Yes, I need to
be forgiven. My justification before holy
God, my sanctification, being set apart by God, my fitness
to enter into the holiest of all, my qualification, all the
conditions of the covenant that had to be fulfilled and met,
my eternal life, the new heart, the new spirit, every bit of
this. My existence eternally in glory
with Christ is all wrapped up, conditioned on, fulfilled by
Jesus Christ. Look at verse 24 of Ezekiel 36. He said, And David, my servant,
shall be king over them. That's not talking about King
David of old. That's talking about David's
greater son, the branch of David, the branch of Jesse, talking
about Jesus Christ, the Lord, our righteousness. And they shall
all have one shepherd, the good shepherd, the great shepherd.
They shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do
them. I will, you shall. They shall
dwell in the land that I've given unto Jacob, my servant, wherein
your fathers have dwelt. And they shall dwell therein."
And incidentally, Abraham never did dwell there, did he? But he dwelt in a land. He looked
for a city. but not a piece of real estate
on this earth. He says they shall dwell therein,
even they and their children and their children's children
forever, not temporarily, but forever. And my servant David
shall be their prince forever. Moreover, I will make a covenant
of peace with them, peace with God, based on the blood of Christ,
the righteousness of Christ, freely imputed and received by
faith. It will be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will
set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore." What is
the sanctuary? That's the presence of God in
the midst of His people. That's the Shekinah, glory of
God. How is he going to set his sanctuary
in the midst of them? Through the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, where two or three are
gathered in my name, there I will be in the midst of them. And
he says in verse 27, my tabernacle shall also be with them. Who
is God's tabernacle? That's his dwelling. That's Jesus
Christ. The word was made flesh and what?
Tabernacled among us. Yea, I will be their God and
they shall be my people. I believe this is the verse that
Paul quotes in 2nd Corinthians 616 when he talks about how we
as the people of God are to be separate from the world. For
what fellowship have we with the world? We're the temple of
God. And he says in the heathen shall
know that I, the Lord, do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall
be in the midst of them forever when Christ The Lord of glory
comes and dwells among his people. Can these bones live? Lord God,
thou knowest. Thou knowest. All right. Heavenly
Father, how thankful we are for your mercy and grace in Christ
Jesus towards us. For the life of the spirit that
comes to us through Christ, who is our life, wherein he dwells
within us by his spirit and by his word. And when we see our
complete, full standing before Thee through His righteousness
alone, having been washed in His blood, be with us as we continue
throughout this week. Guide us and direct us for it's
in Christ's name we pray. Amen.