Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I invite you to open your Bibles
with me this morning to the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 37. We're gonna look at the subject
of the true preacher and his message. The true preacher and
his message. It's through this impossible
task of preaching that our Lord has said he would move on the
hearts of his people. It's impossible because nobody,
starting with me, Nobody is capable of it. Nobody is worthy of it. Nobody is sufficient for it. Nobody. Nobody. In and of themselves, without
the Spirit of God, nobody. Unless God grabs a sinner, and
that's what a preacher is, a preacher is a sinner. And I know that
might be shocking to hear, but that's exactly what a preacher
is, starting with this one. Unless God grabs a sinner and
puts his message in him and causes him to declare it, then a sinner
is only capable of preaching lies and sin because he's a sinner. So unless God does something,
that's all he's capable of. And it'll be to the damnation
of his soul and the souls of them that hear him. That's what
it'll be. Ezekiel was one of God's true
preachers. And we're about to see the message
that God gave to him, gave to Ezekiel. And our God said in
Malachi 3, I am the Lord, I change not. So this message that God
gave to Ezekiel is still the message today. It's the same
message. So right here in Ezekiel 37 verse
one, it says, the hand of the Lord was upon me and carried
me out in the spirit of the Lord. If a preacher is gonna be sent,
if he's gonna be sent of God, this is where it starts. God
has got to lay hold on him, lay hold on a dead vile sinner and
send his spirit to him. And if God, through the declared
word, through preaching the truth of God's word, if God chooses
to save a sinner, then it's the same thing. God grabs that sinner
and God sends his spirit to him. That's what happens. It all begins
with the hand of the Lord. It all begins with the hand of
the Lord. That's where salvation begins.
That's where true preaching begins. Verse one says, 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. If it's of God, if it's true,
Then the first thing that the Lord is gonna convince his preacher
of, the first thing, is the condition of the people he's preaching
to. That's the first thing. And I'm preaching to myself first. This morning as I speak this
message, as I declare this message, the first sinner I'm preaching
to is my own self. People put the preacher up on
a pedestal. It's not the preacher's up high
and the people are down low. We're all one body. We are all
one body. And I am convinced, I am telling
the truth to you this morning. I am convinced that this man,
me, this man I'm preaching to, me, in His natural state in my
own natural flesh, I'm dead. I'm spiritually dead. Without
Christ, I'm dead. I'm convinced of that. Verse
one says, 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. Very dry. No life in them at
all. Very dry. No marrow in them at
all. No moisture in them at all. They were very dry. Martin Luther said, if a man
could get a full view of his sin and lost condition as it
really is, he would lose his sanity. If a man could get a full view
of his sin and lost condition as it really is, he would lose
his sanity. These bones, they're just bones. They're just bones. By nature,
by the flesh, there's no help for them. You know, you go hiking in the
woods and you walk up on a pile of bones, a pile of old, dead
bones. What can you do for them? Nothing. They're without hope. They are
totally without hope. They're just dead, dry bones. Turn with me over to Ephesians
2. Ephesians 2 verse 12, it says, that at that time you were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God
in the world. That's these bones. And that's
every bone born in Adam. That's you. That's me. Without God in our natural state,
unless God does something, unless the hand of the Lord moves, then we're without God, without
hope. In this world, we're just dry
bones. Those bones, they can't feel. They just can't. Walk up on a pile of bones. They
cannot feel anything. Those bones, that pile of dead
bones, they cannot will. You know, well bones, if you'd
just exercise your will, you know, you used to be some kind
of animal. If you would just will yourself to be that animal
again, it would happen. No, that's not true. They can't. They're just dead, dry bones.
Those bones cannot fear. They're just laying there. They're
not afraid. That animal was afraid. But now those bones cannot fear. You know, well, the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Well, the bones can't fear. They're
dead. Those bones cannot love. They
can't love. Those bones cannot repent. They
just can't. Those bones cannot believe. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Tell a pile
of bones that. Well, they can't. They're dead. They're just dead. Back over in Ezekiel 37 verse
three says, and he said unto me, son of man, can these bones
live? Is it possible for these bones
to live? Jeremiah wrote, can the Ethiopian
change his skin? Can the leopard change his spots? Can these bones live? These dead,
dry bones, can they live? Verse three says, and I answered,
O Lord God, Thou knowest. Thou knowest. Ezekiel, can you
make these bones live? No. The preacher can't do anything
for anybody. The preacher cannot do anything
for anybody. The bones can't do anything for
themselves. A spiritually dead sinner doesn't
have any more power to give himself spiritual life than a dead body
has to give himself physical life. You know that? A spiritually
dead sinner doesn't have any more power to give himself spiritual
life than a dead body has to give himself physical life. Our
Lord said, no man can come to me. except the Father which hath
sent me draw him." The hand of the Lord has got to move. The
Spirit of the Lord has got to move. No man will move toward
God until God moves him. No man can, no man will. Not
only do we not have the power to, we don't have the desire
to. No will to. It's because we're
dead. That's why. We're dead, but here's
the good news of the gospel. I just told you the truth about
all of our condition as we are born into this world, but here's
the truth about the gospel. David wrote, thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power, of thy power. With man, it is impossible. But
with God, all things are possible. All things. Verse three says,
he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live? And I answered,
oh Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, prophesy
upon these bones. And saying to them, oh ye dry
bones. Hear the word of the Lord. He
said unto me, prophesy upon these bones. Preach to them. Preach to them. Isn't that interesting? His ways are not our ways, you
know that? Man by nature thinks surely there's
got to be a better way. Preach to them? These dead, dry
bones? There's got to be a better way.
Actually, there is no other way. There's no other way. He didn't
say you go around trying to convince men and women, trying to convince
the bones. He didn't say you go around arguing
with the bones. He said, preach to them. Just
declare what God said. I wanna show you our greatest
example of that. Turn with me over to Luke chapter
four. Luke chapter four, verse 17 says,
and there was delivered unto him, that's the Lord Jesus Christ,
there was delivered unto him, the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book,
he found the place where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of the
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the
book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And
the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened
on him. He preached the word of God. God himself preached
the word. Then he sat down. Then he sat down. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation. Preach the word and then sit
down. That's what God said. Verse four,
again he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones. and saying
to them, oh, ye dry bones. God told Ezekiel, tell the bones,
and that's starting with me. Tell the bones what they are. First thing, tell them that they're
dead, dry bones. Don't sugarcoat it. Don't tell them that there's
still a little bit of moisture in them when you know there's
not. None of the bones that belong
to me will hate you for it. Our Lord told Isaiah to write,
don't be afraid. Lift up your voice. What shall
I cry? All flesh is grass. Oh, you dry bones. Starting with
me. Starting with me. You know what
my flesh is? You know what the flesh of Gabe
Stoniker is? Grass. You know what I am outside of
the goodness and the mercy of God? Just a dry bone. Just a dead, dry bone. The Apostle Paul said, this is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and then he said,
of whom I am chief. First, tell them what they are. Then, tell them what to do. Verse four says, Again, he said
unto me, prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye
dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord. Command these dry bones to hear. Don't ask them. This is not an
option. Command them. Faith cometh by
hearing. Hear the word of the Lord. Well,
they can't. They can't hear. They're dead,
dry bones. Didn't we just go through that?
They cannot hear. They're just dead, dry bones. That's true. But what the Lord
commands, he provides. Do you know that? What the Lord
commands, He provides. Yes, they're dead, dry bones.
There's no moisture in them. There's no life in them at all. They can do nothing. They will
not come. They cannot come. They're dead. They cannot hear. But what the
Lord commands, He provides. He provides. Go with me over
to Proverbs 20. Proverbs 20 verse 12 says, the
hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both
of them. The Lord has made both of them.
Man by nature can't hear, he's dead. Man by nature can't see,
he's dead. Somebody will say, what do you
mean I'm dead? I have ears. I hear you. I turned the radio on this morning.
I hear you right now. I have eyes. I can see you just
fine. Well, I'm not talking about hearing
me. I'm talking about hearing Christ. It's not about seeing me. It's
about seeing Christ. Verse four says, again he said
unto me, prophesy upon these bones and say unto them, oh ye
dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. God's preachers preach
the word of God. That's how you know them. That's
how you know who they are, whether he's a true scent of God preacher
or whether he's a false prophet. a wolf in sheep's clothing. You
don't know them by their eloquence. Some men have the ability to
speak, oh man, but you won't know them by their eloquence.
You won't know them by their wit. There's some smart people
in this world, quick-witted people in this world. You won't know
them by their knowledge. God's apostles were sailors.
who didn't graduate from high school. They were called unlearned
men. Oh, but they learned something.
The Word of God. They learned the Word of God.
Preach the Word. Declare the Word. And God will
honor His Word. He'll honor His Word. Go with
me over to 2 Peter chapter one. 2 Peter 1 verse 16 says, for we
have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from
the excellent glory. This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased. and this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount. We
have also a more sure word of prophecy. where unto you do well
that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place
until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Peter
said we were eyewitnesses. We saw and heard him. But he says we have a more sure
word given to us right here. Why? It's because the written
word is the living word. And he's given us so much of
it. We don't separate the living word from the written word. Verse
20 says, knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture
is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. If we're not preaching the Word,
then we're not preaching Christ. If we're not preaching the Word
of God, then we're not preaching Christ. Back over to our text
in Ezekiel chapter 37. Our Lord said, Ezekiel, you tell
them in verse five, thus saith the Lord God unto these bones. Behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and you 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. Ezekiel, you tell them salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is not a choice. Salvation
is not a decision. Salvation is not up to you. Salvation is not in your hands.
The word is not, I will if you will. Ezekiel, you tell him,
I will and you shall. I will and you shall. Verse seven
says, so I prophesied as I was commanded I prophesied as I was
commanded to, and I prophesied as I was commanded. No more,
no less. Just what I was commanded to
say. Verse seven says, so I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I
prophesied, there was a noise. If the true word of God is preached
in the power of God's spirit, there's gonna be a noise. things
are gonna be stirred up. A stir of life, a stir of joy,
a stir of faith, a stir of opposition, a stir of persecution. You'll
either love it or hate it, but there's gonna be a noise. Verse
seven says, so I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied,
there was a noise, and behold, a shaking. That's what happens
to every sinner that God grabs a hold of, a shaking. Verse 7
says, and the bones came together, bone to His bone. Bone to His
bone. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Christ and His body, bone of
His bone. Verse 8 says, And when I beheld,
lo, sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered
them above, but there was no breath in them. A person can
be covered in doctrine while he or she is under the truth,
just covered in it. A person can be covered in morality
and correct theology. but until the spirit moves. That
word breath means spirit. Until the spirit moves, there's
still no life in him. Verse nine says, 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,
oh breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live. Ezekiel
declared these things, calling on the Spirit. Pray, pray, declare
it with boldness while begging the Spirit to move. There's a
song and it says, come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove, with all thy quickening
power, kindle a flame of sacred love in these cold hearts of
ours. Verse 10 says, so I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath
came into them and they lived and stood up upon their feet
in exceeding great arming. Then he said unto me, Son of
man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they
say, our bones are dried and our hope is lost. We are cut
off for our parts. These who have responded to the
declaration have responded because they are my chosen house. They
are the ones I have performed the work in. I did, they have. That's the result of this message.
God's people respond to his word. And this is how you know who
they are. Verse 11, behold, they say, this is how believers of
the word respond to hearing it, they say, Our bones are dried
and our hope is lost. We are cut off for our parts. They see themselves for what
they are and they loathe what they are. Our bones are dried.
Our hope is lost. We're cut off. And our Lord said,
Because they see it, because they believe it, because I caused
them to, verse 12, Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus
saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves,
and cause you to 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, and 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. Because I started the work, I
will finish it. Because I'm the one who spoke
it, it shall be done." Messenger, here is the message. Go deliver
it, then sit down. I, the Lord, have spoken it,
I will perform it. Until next Sunday morning, may
the Lord bless His Word. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.