I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Ezekiel chapter
37. Ezekiel 37. While you're turning there, I
want to say that this world and this false religion sets forth
that salvation is something that can be appropriated by man logically, taking these scriptures, logically
thinking that they can appropriate God's mercy and grace by logically
figuring this out. and applying it to their heart
and making themselves alive in Christ. It's a thought that magnifies man. It's a thought that gives man
the glory. It's a thought that makes God
a beggar. It makes God desiring to do something,
but man's got to help him. Now we've said that so many times. And this, that lie was made vividly alive to my heart here
this past week, few days ago. I was conversing with a friend
and we were talking about this issue right here. And as I began
to think on our conversation, my heart was led to this passage
of scripture, Ezekiel chapter 37. I'd like to look at the first
10 verses of Ezekiel 37, a message that sets forth a passage, let
me say this, as clearly as can be set forth to the heart of
a believer that is made to understand it. This is as clear a message
of God's sovereign grace as can be heard. And I need to hear
it again. This is a passage of scripture
that I've spoken on numerous times here over these last 21
years. And by the grace of God, we'll
preach it again because it's safe for us to hear again. Tell me again how God saves sinners
by race, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift
of God. The Spirit of God moved upon
a man named Ezekiel, a prophet. called of God, and here's what
he said. Verse 1, the hand of the Lord,
the covenant God, Father, Son, and Spirit, the
hand of Jehovah was upon me and carried me out in the Spirit
of the Lord. set me down in the midst of the
valley which was full of dry bones. Now, Almighty God has
moved a man named Ezekiel, has moved him to come to view man's
deplorable condition, being born in Adam. man's condition from
the fall. Ezekiel said, the hand of the
Lord was upon me and he brought me into this valley and caused
me, verse two, to pass by them round about and behold, there
were very many in the open valley and lo, they were very dry. By the grace of God, God's people
are made to see man's plight. Man's spiritual death. Death because of sin. Now this is the way that man
is. Ezekiel said, I was brought by
the the power of God, the hand of God. And he moved me, he brought
me into this valley and I passed around and there were bones, dry bones. It was full of bones. No skin,
no marrow, no moisture, no life. This is man by nature. Now understand,
let us understand again. This is where men are born in
Adam. They're dead. They're dead. It's the universal state of mankind. He has no strength. He has no
will. He has no belief. Dead. Now we're going to just
settle something right here. What can a dead man do? Nothing. He's dead. He's dead. And he said unto me, verse three,
son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Son of man, is it possible that these bones
can live? What's the likelihood of men
who are nothing more than dry bones left to themselves Can
they live? No. Can they live left to themselves? No. Left to the preacher? No. Left to their will? No. Left
to their choice? No. Left to the appropriation
of God's promises to show life if they will but do something? No. They're dead. They're dead. But listen to this question that
God asked, not for information from God, but for our instruction,
for our admonition. Can a dead sinner one dead in
trespasses and sins. Can that dead sinner live? Can one who has rebelled against
God, can he regain life? Here's the best answer. that
any sinner could give unto the Lord. Lord, you know. You know. We don't know. We don't. That's the most God-honoring
answer that could be given. Lord, you know. What is impossible
with man is possible with God. Surely all things with God Almighty
are yea and amen. Humanly speaking, again, no. Is there anything too hard for
the Lord? No. Ezekiel answered, Lord, you know,
that's what Peter said. unto the Lord when Peter was
asked by the Lord three times on the seashore, lovest thou
me more than these? And Peter find he was grieved.
He said, Lord, you know all things. You know, I love you. Can these bones live? And again, verse four, he said
unto me, Now, here is what this world
calls foolishness. Now, this is foolishness to the
world. He said unto me, prophesy unto
these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Now, I'm gonna tell you right
now Humanly speaking, I understand how this world, this false religion
causes foolishness. I get it. I get it. You say, you preach to those
which are dead. You preach and you say to these
bones, hear. You hear the word of the Lord. This is a word from Almighty
God on how God is pleased to call his people out of spiritual
darkness, deadness. Salvation is of the Lord. Can
you see how impotent is a man when it comes to salvation. What
is a man gonna do? How many times have I used this?
Not an illustration, it's just a fact. How many funerals that
I've preached here? I've preached many funerals to
many of our family. And I'm gonna be honest with
you, I realize my inability to speak life back to a corpse. I can't do it. Oh, if I could, I would, I can't. I'm speaking to a group of people,
and I have one thing for you. Thus saith the Lord. This is all I can do. I can't
negotiate with you to give you life. I can try to preach these scriptures
as clearly as I know how, and I have no ability to get to your heart. I have
none. I have instruction from the Lord. Marvin, You preach, you prophesy
unto these bones, and you say unto them, oh you dry bones,
hear, hear the word of the Lord. You preach to them, and don't
you deviate, don't deviate from God's ordained way. Oh, the gimmicks, All the foolishness. I'm preaching to dying people.
I've said that so many times. I'm getting so close. I know
that. I know that. I mean, just a few more setting
suns. I mean, I'm not so foolish as
to think that if Lord doesn't come back, It won't be long for all of us.
It's a vapor. And what am I gonna do? I'm gonna
do the only thing I can do. I'm gonna preach to you. And
I'm gonna say, hear, oh, ye dry bones. Those in here that may be without
Christ, here's what I'm gonna say to you. Oh, ye dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord. Hear what God has to say. By the grace of God, the Lord
did not leave me in question what I'm supposed
to say. Look at verse 5 and 6. Thus saith
the Lord God unto these bones. Here's what I'm going to tell
you. Behold, it says that here's God speaking to the bone, and
he's gonna speak through a preacher. Here's what you say. Behold,
and look at the emphaticness of this truth. 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 you shall live and you shall know that
I am the Lord. It is of necessity that we sit under a message of
God's choosing and God's direction by God's means. Is it necessary
to hear the preaching of the gospel? Yes. How does God save sinners? Brother David just read it. We're
bound to give thanks unto God for you, beloved of the Lord. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel. He called you by the gospel.
Romans 10, 14. How then shall they call on him
whom they've not believed? How shall they believe in him
in whom they've not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall they preach except they be sent? So you prophesy unto these bones
and you say unto them, this is what you say, O dry bones, hear
the word of Jehovah. Hear the word of the covenant
God. You hear Him who is the Word
of God Himself. You hear. And if Almighty God
is pleased to bless it, He's gonna give them a new ear to
hear it. And they'll hear it. Let's don't be wiser than the
revelation of God. Don't argue all dead bones can't
hear. You preach to them. and you trust
God, and you believe that God Almighty is gonna hear. Here's
what the Lord promised. He said, my sheep, hear my voice. So we preach believing that God's
sheep is gonna hear His voice, and they're gonna follow Him.
That's the comfort that we have. Hear what God has to say. Again, don't become wiser in God's revelation. I think
you are. This is the message. This is
the message of what God's gonna do. He's going to do this. This
is not chance. This is not if. This is not maybe.
This is what the Lord is going to do. You tell dead bone, dead
dry bones, You tell them that salvation is of the Lord. I will
and you shall. I love that. I love that. I love that God is God and he's
mighty and he's able and he shall and we will. We're going to stand before him
that rules in heaven and earth. Salvation is by the grace of
God. So Ezekiel, oh, what a blessing here. Verse
seven and eight. So I prophesied as I was commanded. Isn't that refreshing to hear? Isn't it refreshing just to hear
the Spirit of God move somebody to say, I did what God told me
to do. 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. The Lord had promised, He promised,
Back in verse 6, I will lay sinews upon you, I will bring up flesh
upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you,
and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. And
Ezekiel said, I did just exactly what God told me to do. There was the sinews. There was the skin. There was no life, no breath. Now, beloved, let's learn something
here. Let's learn what God Almighty
is saying. Preachers are voices. That's what we are. What John
the Baptist say when they came, are you him? John said, no, I'm
not him. I'm just a voice. I'm just a
voice, I'm telling you, this is what God says. What about this right here? What
is this? We're messengers, we're ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. And we preach
what God tells us to preach. And we hear what the Lord says
he's gonna do. And we tell these dry bones to
do what they cannot of themselves possibly do. They cannot live. God must give life. But Ezekiel
preached just exactly what God instructed him to preach. And
according to these scriptures, verse seven and eight, he said,
I did what I was told. And there was some activity there.
I saw some activity. There was some shaking, and there
was some noise, and bone to them bones, and their skin, there
were sinews. But there was no breath in them.
There was no life. They looked like men that were
alive. But there was no breath. You know, the Lord gave a parable
one day and he said a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed the seed, some
of it fell by the wayside. Birds came and ate it. Some fell among stony ground,
sprang up quickly. But because there was no root,
it withered. When the son of persecution son
came out with it. And some fell among thorny ground
and he grew. But because of the thorns it
was choked out. But there was some that fell
on good ground. Blessed. 30, 60, 100 fold. Brethren, the Lord has
set forth here that there, as we preach the truth, there may
be some activity. This is what God's teaching us
here. There may be some activity. But when God saves sinners, He
saves them and He imparts life to them. And though there might
be activity, you continue to preach to him and preach to him
and preach to him. Temporary sporadic action, but
no continuance. Knowledge, but no life. There was some shaking. And then in verse nine, he said
to me, you prophesy into 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. We preach to dry bones. And we
pray, Lord, you must give life. You alone can give life. Pray that God Almighty send life
from above. You pray, you ask. You say, don't
you believe that God's gonna do what He wants to do? Don't
you believe that the Lord, if the Lord's pleased to send the
Spirit of God, don't you think He's gonna do it? My brethren,
please let us all learn. Don't get wiser, don't try to
get wiser than the revelation of God's Spirit. What did the
Lord say to do? Do we have the ability to send
the Spirit of God? No. But he said, you ask, you ask. I'm gonna do this for my people. I want you to turn over to just
back one page, probably. Ezekiel 36, look at verse 26
and 27. A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you. and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of
flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk
in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them. In verse 37 of that same chapter,
thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by
the house of Israel to do it for them. I will increase them
with men like a flock. What God saved is going to do.
I'm going to save my people. And you're going to bow before
me and you're going to ask me to have mercy. I'm going to give
mercy. I'm going to show mercy to whomsoever
I will show mercy. I'm going to have compassion
on whomsoever I will have compassion. And you're going to pray. You're
going to ask me. You're going to bow before me. You're going to
approach me. And you're going to beseech me.
and I will be inquired of by you. Do we have any ability to
move the will of God, the power of God? Absolutely not. But God's people are people that
humble themselves before God and ask. Do I think God can save
my kids and grandkids? Yes, sir. Just as easily as that
leper came to him and said, Lord, if you will, you can. I know
you can if you will. But brethren, let me tell you
something. Don't you ever think that not asking the Lord to have
mercy on your kids and grandkids is an option. It's not an option.
I will be inquired of by the house of Israel. You ask me. And you know what God's people
do? They're going to ask. They're not going to argue with
God. I'm not gonna debate with the Lord. Verse 10, so I prophesied
as he commanded. He said, you prophesy, you ask
the wind, you ask, you ask that God send his spirit. So I prophesied as I was commanded
and the breath came and they lived. and stood up upon their
feet an exceeding great army. Oh, do you realize the honor
that is given unto him, the honor that we so desperately want to
give unto him when we obey? Don't try to figure out God.
You're not gonna figure out God. How many times have I told you,
Brother Don Fortner, before he passed away, There were so many
precious, precious, precious conversations that Don and I
had just right there toward the end. And I remember one of them,
he said this, Marvin, don't ever think that you're ever gonna
figure God out. We don't know what he's doing. We don't know
what he's doing. I don't know what God's gonna
do. But I know this, if he's gonna save a sinner, he's gonna
save him through the preaching of the gospel. And that sinner's
not gonna have anything input. He's not gonna act upon God's
promises and think that God's gonna do something. No, we believe
God. You ask God to have mercy. Well,
I've asked him, but he hasn't. Do you still have breath in your
lungs? Well, then you keep asking until you leave this world. Who
knows? Who knows? We may leave this
world and never see the fruit of that which God's pleased to
do. And God Almighty may, after we're gone, show mercy to one
that we was moved to pray for. But you ask Him, you ask Him. I'm gonna just read verses 11
to 14, then we're gonna wrap this up. Then he said to me,
son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. This is
the spiritual Israel. God's elect, God's church, the
bride of Christ. Behold, they say our bones are
dried and our hope is lost in ourselves. I looked that up to
find out what they were saying. We're cut off for our parts,
we have no ability We have no ability to do anything save ourselves. Therefore prophesy. You preach
to them, you say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, behold, O
my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come out of
your grave, come up out of your graves and bring you into the
land of Israel And you shall know that I am the Lord when
I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out
of your graves. I shall put my Spirit in you,
and you shall live. And I shall place you in your
own land. Then shall you know that I, the
Lord, have spoken it and performed it, saith the Lord." God Almighty
is going to save his people. God Almighty is going to have
those that he's everlastingly loved in Christ. He's going to
have them with him. In the wisdom of God, God's been
pleased to take lumps of clay. Men, men who in themselves know
they have no ability whatsoever. I have no ability. but I can
preach and I can pray. And the spirit of God who is
pleased to do just exactly what he wants to do, he's God, will
move his people to ask him. And in so doing, we honor him
and we glorify him and we praise him and we bless him for who
he is. And he calls his people. His
people that He's everlastingly loved. He calls them to themselves.
How does God save sinners? He saves them by grace, the hearing
of the gospel, and gives them faith to believe. And they coming,
they gonna come. I pray God bless this to our
hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. All right, let's take a
break.