I ask you to take your Bibles
now and turn with me to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 37. Ezekiel 37. This book, this chapter, sets forth as clearly of the truth of how God saves His people. This chapter, I'm going to deal
with the first ten verses. Found in those ten verses is the glorious declaration of God's one means of salvation. This is the passage where Ezekiel
is brought by the Lord. Look at verse 4. The hand of the Lord was upon
me. Now let me just say this, unless
His hand is upon us, it's useless. unless he guide
us, it's worthless. The hand, the power, the direction
of the Lord 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 bones, 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." Now, the Lord is getting ready to instruct Ezekiel. To do something that I know to
the natural mind is foolishness. He's getting ready to instruct
Ezekiel to preach. That's what he says in verse
4. Again, he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones, and say unto
them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Now, every sinner needs to hear this
passage. Why? Because it's the word of
God. Word that shall endure forever. Every regenerated sinner wants
to hear it, needs to hear it. and hear it again, because faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. If there's anyone here today
that knows something of their need of hearing, I've got some
good news. If there's anyone made sensible,
and I pray that I have been made sensible, to know my need of
the Lord Jesus Christ and my need to hear again and hear again
and hear again. You want to know something about
making your calling and election sure? Hear the word of God. Listen to what God has to say. If you've been made sensible
of your need of Christ, you're a blessed sinner. If you see no need of hearing
from him, If you feel as though that hell is not your destination
without Him, then I have nothing else for you. But if you, by
the grace of God, have been made to hear and to know something,
the Lord has blessed you. The hand of the Lord, when God
calls, Men respond. When the Lord calls
and directs, he gives a heart made willing in the day of his
power. Ezekiel said, the hand of the
Lord was upon me and he carried me out in the spirit of the Lord
and set me in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. He carried me out. He caused
me to rest and to consider. And behold, and he 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. God's people are made to know
something of man's plight. We don't know the depth of it.
I know we don't. But we're made to know something
of the plight. of depravity and spiritual death. Unable, unable. If you feel that there's something
in you that is able, that you have some ability, you've got
some part being able to either react, receive, he carried me
in the spirit and set me in the midst of the valley which was
full of bones. And Ezekiel said, I looked around
and there were very many, listen, all have sinned. There's none righteous, not one. What ability did these dry bones
have? None, none. There was nothing there There
was no skin, there was no marrow, there was no moisture, there
was no life at all. This is man by nature. What are
we by nature? We're dead. Dead. That's the universal state of
man. No will, no will. If you feel as though that you
are right with God because you have accepted the Lord, because
you made a decision, because you chose, because you exercised
your free will. Now listen to me. If you think
that you are right with the Lord because you did that, you're
lost. You're lost. You're lost. I know the flesh will argue with
me, I understand that. You're lost. We're saved by grace, through
faith, by the means of God's faith that He gives. Not of ourselves,
not of yourself. Why? Because you're going to
boast in it. You're going to say, I did something. He caused me to pass them round
about And there were very many, how did they get there? I read
the account, it was probably a big battle and there were many,
many that were killed and they were all out there. Let me tell
you where they all got there, in the garden. That's where it
all happened. That's where all of them died.
And they were all there. And he said, he saw these bones
and there were very many and they were very dry. I mean, there
was nothing, there was nothing there of any moisture, any life
whatsoever. And he, that is the Lord said
unto me, son of man, can these bones live? Now that question
right there, The answer to that question exposes a man's heart. Can these bones live? I can tell you as far as Ezekiel's
answer, he said, oh Lord God, thou knowest. If it's left up
to me, can these bones live? If it's left up to me, you're
not gonna live. I can't impart life. If it's
left up to you, you're gonna die. Can these bones live? That's the question that the
Lord asked, not for his information, but for our instruction and our
learning. Can sinners, dead in trespasses
and sins, live. Lord, only you know. Can a dead sinner, which has
done nothing but rebelled against God, died in the garden, came
forth, our mother's womb speaking lies, can he regain life before
God? Ezekiel gave the only answer
that can honorably be given. The Lord knows. Like Peter, when
the Lord asked him, said, Peter, lovest thou me more than these?
After the third time, Peter said, Lord, you know all things. You know all things. Can these
bones live? Lord, you know. So the Lord instructs the prophet,
Ezekiel, to do something, like I said a moment ago, that is
so foolish. Now, in the midst of this congregation,
the midst of other congregations, if there be found one that does
not know God, They're dead in trespasses and sin. They're dead.
They do not have ears to hear. They do not have eyes to see. They do not have a heart to believe. They have no desire whatsoever
to even hear what's being said. They don't want to. It may be
they're out of Obligation, they may be, whatever, whatever. But if there's no life there,
there's nothing there to respond. Like a corpse, you've heard me
say this. If a corpse would be in this,
right here. And you speak to the corpse,
there's nothing to respond. He's dead. His ears don't work,
his eyes don't work, He can't taste, he can't feel, you could
take there and pinch him, he doesn't feel it. Why, he's dead. Can these bones live, Lord? You
know, you know. And out of the knowledge and
the wisdom of Almighty God revealed to Ezekiel again, he said to
me, just ask him, can these bones live? Lord, thou knowest. Here's what he said to prophesy, you preach upon these
bones and say unto them, oh, you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Natural man says, that's the
silliest thing I've ever heard of in my life. You're telling
me that you think, as you say, this is
what the world says, you think that no one can hear, no one
can respond, no one has a free will, no one of themselves will
come to Christ, they will not come, they're dead, they're spiritually
dead. You're saying that they're spiritually
dead, and you're telling me to say to them, oh ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. You're
telling me that you're going to leave it totally in the hands of God and you're
not going to let the people have any ability in themselves to
respond? You're going to tell me that
would be like me telling a corpse, corpse, hear my word. You say you're talking out your
head. You're foolish. You're foolish. After that, in
the wisdom of God, the world, by wisdom, knew not
God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And I'll tell you what
a God-ordained, God-called preacher is going to do. He's not going
to deviate. from what God has told him to
say. To all that are here today that
know not the Lord, hear the word of the Lord. Hear God's word. Hear what Almighty God has been
pleased to do for sinners. Scripture says that he told him,
you prophesy unto these bones, and you say unto them, O ye dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord. Preach the gospel to them. Preach
the gospel. Whenever we proclaim the gospel
of God's free grace, we're preaching to people who do not know the
Lord, we're preaching to people, and here's what we're saying
to them. Hear what God has to say. This is the message that
God's gonna bless. Scripture says in Ephesians 1.13,
in whom you also trusted. After that, you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation. So the means of God
saving a sinner is the preaching of the gospel. How, Paul said
in Romans 10, shall they call on him in whom they've not believed?
And how shall they believe in him in whom they've not heard?
How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? This is the only way. We know that men are dead. God's
told us they are. They're dead spiritually. We
know that. We know that no man can come. We know that. It has
no ability to come, no desire to come, no ability to come.
He won't come. What hope does a sinner have?
Lord, you know. You know. God saves sinners. God's way. What is the message of the gospel
we're to preach? Look what he said. Again, he
said unto me, prophesy unto these bones and say unto them, O ye
dry bones, hear the word of the capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. You hear the word of the covenant
God of mercy. You hear the word of the Father
who chose a people in Christ before the foundation
of the world. You tell these dry bones that
the Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life for the sheep. You tell them that. You tell
them that the Spirit of God is going to effectually and divinely,
powerfully call them out of darkness. You preach to them and you tell
them what they are. Oh, ye dry bones, you that have
no ability. This is what we are. You tell
them, you tell them what they are by nature. You tell them
about their inability. Don't you leave them in darkness.
Don't you let them think that they've got some kind of ability.
Do you tell them that they're dead in trespasses and sins? The Lord said in Isaiah 55, eight,
my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper
in the thing where to I sent it. You preach to them. You prophesied upon these bones
and you say unto them, hear the word of Jehovah. Here's what
I know. His sheep are gonna hear. In
the day of his good pleasure, they're going to hear, the dead
are gonna hear the word of God, the dead. That's right. We preach
to them. You tell them of Him who is the
surety, the redeemer, the great high priest and Savior of His
people. You tell them that He is the
way, not them. He's the way, He's the truth,
He's the life, and without Him we can do nothing. You tell them
you can do nothing. You hear Him. Verse 5 and 6, thus saith the
Lord God unto these bones. Now do you listen to this promise
that God has made? Now here's a promise, this is
what he said. This is my promise. Behold, he
said, you preach to them, and let me tell you, you that know
him not, especially, listen to this. This is what he's doing,
he's preaching dry bones. You listen to me, this is what
the Lord said he's going to do. I will cause breath to enter
into you and you will live. 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. Now, I've got something right
here that we can hang on to. What's he saying? God's going
to bless his word. That's what I said. It's not going to return
for it. He's going to bless it. He's going to bless it. You tell
them that dry bones are going to have life imparted
to them. You tell them when I call you,
you're going to come. I told you this stuff Oh, how
I used to hear people say, they give invitations, I've told you
this before, they'd hang on to the back of that, you know, get
their knuckles and turn them wide, fighting and resisting
the Lord. Matthew, follow me. Peter, James, John, follow me. They left their boat and walked
away, as old Mike preached on that last Thursday night. The sheep of God are going to
hear. These dry bones are going to hear that salvation is by
the grace of God. You tell them what I'm going
to do. I'm telling you, dry bones, God's
going to save His people. If He's pleased to call you,
you're going to come. You're coming. You're coming. Scripture says in verse 7 and
8, So I prophesied, I preached. As I was commanded, this is what
he told me to preach, and this is what I'm gonna preach. If
it's found in this book right here, I'm gonna preach it by
the grace of God, this is what I'm gonna do. And I pray God
give me a heart fire. I prophesied as I was commanded,
and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a shaking,
Bones came together, bone to his bone, and when I beheld,
lo, the sinews, the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered
them above, but there was no breath in them. God's people are voices. They're
messengers. They're ambassadors for Christ. as though, now listen to this, this is the truth of the word
of God. I know how the world thinks of
God's preachers, I understand that. Paul says we are ambassadors
of Christ, we're telling you what the Lord has said as though
God, It beseech you by us. We pray
you, we preach to you in Christ's stead. I'm telling you what the
Lord says. And this is what we are. We're
frail creatures of dust, clay pots that know something of our
own frailty. You don't have to tell us what
we are. We know what we are. We know what we are. We know
our shortcomings, we know our frailties. But God calls preachers. Ezekiel said, I did just exactly
what he told me to do. And there was some movement,
there was some shaking. It was all, you know. I told them, I told them, thus
saith the Lord, you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord and
do what you of yourself cannot do. He preached as he was instructed,
and there was some activity. He said, I saw, there was some
things going, happening. Bone came to bone, sinews, flesh,
but there was no life in them. There was no life there. This may be like the Philippian
jailer. All the earthquake and bar doors
of jail were open and he came in trembling. He said, what must
I do to be saved? Oh, Felix, that's what he said.
He trembled when he heard Paul preach. I'll hear this another
time. He had some activity. Outwardly,
it looked like men alive. but there was no life. There
was no breath. When the gospel is powerfully,
faithfully preached, something happens. It always
does. There's always some activity. It may be seed that fell by the
wayside and there may be seed that fell in stony places and
it sprung up quickly. Because there was no deepness
of earth, when the sun, persecution came, it withered, and maybe
it was some thorny ground, and here it is, the thorns choked
it out, and the cares of this world, there was something that
happened, but there wasn't any life, there was no life there. The Lord's gonna teach Ezekiel
and us something else. He said, verse 9, said unto me,
prophesy unto the wind. Prophesy, the margin says, unto
the breath. You pray that the Spirit of God
would bless what's being preached. There may be some activity. It
might, you know, it looks decent. You prophesy unto the wind, prophesy,
O son of man, and you 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. How many times have you heard
me say, got a set of notes, I've gone over them and gone over
them again, scratched out, rewrote and wrote and wrote and rewrote,
reconsidered, you know, But do you know unless God blesses
this, it can be truth, it's the truth. I went over my notes a
while ago and I didn't see anything that I disagreed with. But do
you know I don't have any ability to proclaim the truth and give
you life? There's one way God's gonna give
life, God's gonna give life. Before I stand up here, may the
Lord always cause me to remember, you asked, turn to Ezekiel 36. Well, we're almost there, aren't
we? Just look back to the other page here. Ezekiel 36, verse
26, a new heart also will I give you, a new spirit will I put
in you, within you. I will take away the stony heart
out of your flesh. I'll give you a heart of flesh.
I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes.
You should keep my judgments and do them. Go to verse 37. Thus saith the Lord, all these
things that he said, I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do. 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. You ask me,
you ask me. Lord, save me. If a man or woman asked the Lord
to save them, you know he's already saved them. He's already given
them life. They wouldn't ask that if God
hadn't given them life. You preach to them and you tell
them, and this is what I'm gonna do. This is what I'm gonna do.
Now you ask me to do it. You ask me. Prophesy to the wind. Prophesy to the wind and say
to the wind, say to the spirit, Lord, bless this service. Lord, please don't leave me to
my foolishness and my stupidity and my carelessness. Lord, help
me. Help me. Breathe upon these slain. Lord, bless these people. Bless
the here, bless me. So verse 10, so I prophesied as
he commanded me. And the breath came unto them,
and they lived, and they stood up upon their feet, an exceeding
great army." Oh, when the Spirit of God blesses the Word, there's
life. There's life. They stood up on
their feet, stood in Christ, shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace by the grace of God. There's evidence. Now, before they looked good,
they were religious, but there was no breath in them, no life
in them. Now there's a difference. Now
there's a difference. There's life, there's a difference
in merely hearing the word preached and understanding the doctrinal
points of it. and having a heart for the God
of that truth. I remember Brother Henry used
to say, we don't worship five points of Calvinism. We worship
Almighty God, who has been set forth in the clarity of these
words, we worship Him. Prayer doesn't change things.
I heard him say that so many times. Prayer doesn't change
things. The God to whom we pray changes things or moves things
in his time. He doesn't change his mind. He
moves directions. God does it. Last verse. Turn to 1 Thessalonians
1. 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians
1 verses 4 to 7. The Apostle Paul saying, knowing
brethren, beloved, your election of God. How do we know? What's the evidence
of life? What's the evidence of life?
He said, well, our gospel came not unto you in word only. It wasn't just you heard. But
it wasn't just a word in your head. It came in power and in
the Holy Ghost. That's what the Lord just told
Ezekiel to do. You pray, you pray, you prophesy
to the wind. It came in much assurance as
you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
You knew that we were telling you the truth. You just, everything
that you ever heard before in false religion and all, just,
you consider that as Paul the Apostle said, I consider it as
dung. It's dung. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with
joy. of the Holy Ghost, so that ye
were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia, from
whom you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is
spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. For they
themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you,
and how you turned to God from idols. the idol of ourself, to
serve the living and true God. The word powerfully applied to
the heart by the Spirit of God. When breath from above is imparted,
there's a knowledge of who I am, there's a knowledge of who God
is, and there's a knowledge of how God saves sinners. I pray
the Lord bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake.