I wish I could tell you how much I appreciate and thank the Lord
for allowing us all to be together this morning. In all things,
give thanks. I'm thankful that we're here.
I read something Brother Henry said one time. He said, I'm thankful
I'm here. I'm thankful I want to be here. I thank God that He's raised
up this assembly and has kept it here all these many years. I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Ezekiel 37. This is a chapter, I'm going
to look at chapter 37, a few verses, verses 1 through 14. And we've heard this passage
so many times. But you know the Apostle Paul
said for me to say the same thing to you. He said, to me is not
grievous. He said, for you it's safe. I want to hear this morning what
the Lord has to say concerning how God calls his sheep. I know that the Lord has a sheep.
I've read that in the Scriptures. You have, too. And He said that
John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me, they're going to come
to me. Lord, call me. Lord, show me. give me some understanding. I want to hear what the Lord
has to say about calling His people. Faith cometh by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God. So let's just hear what the Lord
has to say through a man that He called to be a prophet, a
man named Ezekiel. Ezekiel 37 and verse 1, the Scripture
declares, 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 dry bones. The hand, the power, the,
the direction of the LORD Ezekiel says, Was upon me. God calls
men to preach. He said, Was on me. Me, the apostle
Paul said, Who is the least? The wretched. Can you imagine,
John? God would allow this treasure,
the treasure, of the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and would give it to a steward. And that steward immediately
realizes, Lord, if you don't keep me, I'm not going to be
kept. Who's sufficient for these things? The hand of the Lord
was upon me, and he carried me out in the
Spirit. in the things that are revealed
by the Spirit. He carried me, caused me to go,
and He set me down. Actually, what it says is He
caused me to rest. He caused me to rest in the midst
of the valley which was full of dry bones. He put me in a place In verse
2, And he caused me to pass by them round about. Actually, it,
to circle. Just look at this again. Consider
this. Consider who we're talking to. We're talking to creatures who
by nature are just like us. Dry bones. He caused me to pass
by them. God's people are made to see
something of their plight. Where they have come from, they're
going to see something of their depravity. Behold, there were
very many of them in that open valley, in that
open, in that vast space. And lo, they were very dry. How dry? How dry are dead bones? Dead, sun-bleached bones. How dead are they? Dead. Brother
Scott said graveyard dead. That's dead. No skin, no marrow,
no moisture. No life. No life. Nothing there but death. It was
just a valley of dry bones. and he said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones live? Is it possible? What's the probability
of these dead, dry bones living? What's the chance of that? Left
to themselves, zero. Left to me, my ability to convince
them of anything, zero. But this is the question that
the Lord asked. He asked, Son of man, can these
bones live? Not for information, for the
Lord, He's the omniscient God. Almighty God asked this, can
a, can a dead, dry bone live? one that's dead and trespasses
in sin. Can a spiritually dead sinner
live? Can one that has rebelled against
God and died spiritually, no life, no love, nothing, nothing. Can these dry bones live? And that, that prophet answered
in such an honorable way, an honest, a modest way of answering
the God who rules in heaven and earth. This was God that asked
him that question. And this is what he said, Lord, O Lord God, thou knowest, Lord,
you know everything. Peter, lovest thou me more than
these? Peter, lovest thou me more than
these? Peter, and that third time he
was grieved. He said, Lord, you know, all
things, you know, I do. You ever felt that? Lord, convicting
spirit. We know we know just enough about
ourselves to know. We've set our hearts and looked
at things and longed after them. Marvin, do you love me more than
these? And by the grace of God, Almighty
God, give a man a woman a heart. Say, Lord, you know I love you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Lord, thou knowest. He answered in the best, the
only way he could. Lord, you know. You're God. I'm not. Lord, you know. And he said unto me, Prophesy
upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the
word of the LORD. Now you know, that's what the
world calls foolishness. What, what, you're, you're talking
to dry bones. You're talking to dead, dry bones. And you're, you're telling me
that the way that you're going to speak to these bones, you're
going to say, Oh, you dry bones here. You're telling me that I'm to
believe that the only way that God's going to save a sinner
is for you to preach, to preach the glorious glory and honor
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're telling me that the way
that God's going to save these sinners is to preach to them. That's exactly what I'm saying. Well, that just doesn't make
sense to me. Well, let God be true, and I'm
a liar. And the Lord said, you preach
to them. And so this is what I'm going to do this morning.
I don't know, I don't know the heart of anybody in here. I don't
know the heart of anybody. But I can tell you this, from
our mother's womb, We came forth liars, dead in trespasses and
sins, and so here's what I'm going to do. John, if this is
the last time I ever preach, Lord, help me to say to those
that sit here, oh, ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. Hear
what God has to say. 1 Corinthians 121, For 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. For any of us to have any hope
this morning, we're going to have to hear the
Word of the you're telling me that we're
born dead, that's exactly what I'm telling you. Then salvation's got to be by
the grace and power of God. Amen. I agree with you on that,
because I don't have the ability. The Lord has revealed that He's
pleased to save His people from their sins, and He's going to
save them through the preaching of Christ. Tell me about Him. Tell me who He is. Tell me what
He did, what He accomplished, what He finished. Tell me where
He is now. Tell me about Him who loves me.
Tell me about Him who's not going to forsake me, not going to leave
me. Tell me about Him who's coming back for me. Tell me of the promises. tell me about him. It pleased
God. The Apostle Paul was moved to
the letter to the church at Ephesus to say in Ephesians 1, 13, And
whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. Dry bones by the power and grace
of God. are going to hear. God's people,
those dry bones that are His elect, His chosen, His church,
His bride, they're going to hear. They're going to hear. And who
knows? The Lord might give ears today.
Wouldn't that be wonderful? Paul said in Romans 10, 14, How
then shall they call on Him in whom they've not believed? How
shall they believe in Him in whom they've not heard? And how
shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except
they be sent? Son of man, you prophesy unto
these dry bones, and you say to them, this is what I want
you to say. Isn't it wonderful, John, that we're not left to
try to figure out what to say? What would I say? You prophesied
to these dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. And then the
graciousness of God to not leave us there, to try to interpret,
okay, what, what, what is the word of God? Oh, you dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord. And then verse 5 and 6, how merciful. He didn't leave us to ourselves
to figure it out. He said, This is what I want
you to say. Boy, that took a lot of pressure off. What do we say? Thus saith the
Lord God unto these bones, Behold, take note, give attention to, I will. Now, boy, I tell you
what, whatever's coming next, this is going to be good. going
to be good. Because God's Word is sure. It's
not going to turn void. It's going to accomplish the
purpose for which it was sent. Behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and you shall live. What a promise. I will, you shall, verse 6, 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. I'm going to breathe on you,
and you're going to live, and you're going to know You're going to know who I am. Ezekiel, verse 4, you say to
them, you tell them what they are. You be honest with them.
You tell them what they are by nature. Don't you tell them that
there's a little good in every man. Don't you tell them that.
Brother Paul brought that out last Friday night. God did look
down. they say God looked down, He
saw who would choose. No, God did look down. And He did see. And this is what He saw. There
was none good. They're all gone aside. There's
none righteous. Not one. There's not one righteous
person born in Adam, born into this world. Not one righteous
one in themselves in this room this morning. Here's what I'm
going to tell you. Oh, you dry bones. All you depraved
people, all of us, starting right here, especially. I know just
enough about myself to know it would embarrass me to death if
you knew me really. Oh, you dry bones. Hear the word
of the Lord. I know this. I know what's going
to happen if God's pleased to do anything for anybody. In this
building today, He's going to cause the breath of His Spirit
to enter in. And you're going to live, you
that are dead. He's going to put sinews, flesh,
breath, and we're going to know God. Isn't that wisdom? Isn't that
power? That God speaks to the dead. and He speaks life to them. They don't stay dead. Isaiah 55, 8, For 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. It shall prosper
in the thing whereto I sin. So you preach to them. Verse
4, You prophesy, and you say, O ye dry bones, hear the word
of the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. You hear the word of Jehovah,
the covenant God. You hear the word of God who
has chosen the people, Father. You hear the word of the Redeemer
Himself, who has borne her everlastingly, having been given his bride before
the foundation of the world. You hear the word of the Spirit
of God that blows as the wind, whithersoever he please, one
that calls them out, and seals them, and teaches them, and guides
them, and keeps them. You hear the word of the Lord. You hear the word of Him who
is God, don't. Gee, God. Not little G. Not the one trying to do anything. Here's what He promised. He said,
My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow
Me. So we preach Him. We preach Him. We preach the Lord. We preach
God who is God. He God who Nebuchadnezzar confessed, He rules in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. Nobody stays His hand. Nobody says to Him, nobody questions
Him. What doest thou? I know this,
if a dead, spiritually dead sinner going to have life. He's going
to have to hear the Word of the Lord, and God's going to have
to make him hear, because without Him, they're not going to hear. So
Ezekiel said in verse 7 and 8, So 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. God's preachers are voices. We're messengers, stewards, ambassadors. Christ, as though God did beseech
you by us. And we do as the Lord commands. We preach, we preach to dry bones. And we're going to trust God,
who's going to do whatsoever He will. The Lord's going to
do His will. And that's the surety of our
message. And so we tell Dry Bones to live.
But as Ezekiel did exactly what the Lord commanded him to do,
he said there was some movement, there was some, there was some
activity, there was some things that were starting to happen, but there was no breath in Now,
I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to just try to speak
from, and I pray that the Lord give us some understanding, me
especially here. I know what I'm reading is that
there began to have the appearance of, of something going on. Ezekiel was preaching to these
dry bones and, and these bones began to shake and, and kind
began to take form, and there was a, there was something of
the appearance of life, something was there, but there was no life
there. There are times when the Lord
begins to deal with some people, and they hear And there's an arrestingness
about it. There's a stirring of it. I remember the first time I heard
the truth. I heard the truth. I heard the
gospel preached. There was something about it.
This wasn't the message that I'd been hearing. there was a, there was an arrestingness
about it. But I didn't know God. By the
grace of God, God kept me from just out and out just rejecting
it. But out here, I was like that Philippian jailer
came in. He just tore all to pieces. It
was an arrest. There was something about it.
He trembled. He came in there. He asked Paul and Silas, Sir,
what must I do to be saved? The Lord stopped Saul of Tarsus. He stopped him on the road to
Damascus. Light shined around him. He, Saul, Saul, are you? Who are you? Trembling. Who are you, Lord? He told him. Blinded him. Sent him into Damascus. You know who he sent him to?
Sent him to a preacher. He preached to him. Ezekiel said there was activity.
It looked, it looked like something was going on. There was a There
was an arrestingness about it. There's been times that I've
seen, you've seen, it happened to me, it happened to you. There's
just something about this message. I just want to come back again.
I just want to hear it again. I know what I've been hearing before
and it ain't this. This has some kind of solidness to it. And by God's grace, he just maintains. A sower went to sow. Some of
it fell by the wayside, eaten up by the birds. Some of
it fell to stony ground. There was no deepness of earth
it withered. Some of it fell among thorns
and got choked out. By the grace of God, some of
them fell on good ground. God kept it there and blessed
it. How does the Lord work? One of
the last things Don told me, time before he died, he said,
Marvin, I want you to remember something. He said, we never
know what God's doing. We never know. You never know. You just keep preaching. You
just keep preaching. And God's going to do what he's
going to do. Don't you try to figure him out. What is God doing
right now? I don't know. I have no idea. I don't know what the Lord's
doing, but I know this. He called me to preach, tell
dead, dry bones about Christ. So that's what I'm going to do.
And who knows? Lord may have drawn one of His
own here today. I don't know. Maybe just, they
just want to hear again. It's just by the power and grace
of God, they're still here. We ask the Lord to bless it.
There was no breath in them. None of that. I know they weren't
alive. standing there. Verse 9, So he
said unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, that
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. Boy, you know, there's, there's
a, there's a, a settledness of heart. that comes when we see
that this is what the Lord said to do. I know this. I know He's, what He's doing,
He's beseeching the Spirit of God. I know what He's doing.
I know what He's saying. You prophesy unto the wind, prophesy,
O son of man, say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come
from the four winds. We don't command God to do anything.
But we're going to, we're going to beseech Him. I know that for
a fact. I want you to look just one page before, Ezekiel. Chapter
36, look at, look at verses 26 and 27, New heart also will I
give you, a new spirit will I put within you, I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, I will give you a heart of flesh,
I will, and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to
ask, to walk, I'm sorry, in my statutes, and you shall keep
my judgments and do them. Now let me tell you something,
that's what the Lord said He was going to do. And He's going
to do it. He's going to do it. You know
why I know He's going to do it? Because He said He would. Look
at verse 37. Thus saith the Lord God, I will
yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it
for them, and I will increase them with men like a flock. He
said, this is what I'm going to do, and you're going to ask
me. You're going to ask me for it. You're going to inquire me. And so in the only way that I
know how, I'm going to take what God Almighty has just said, that
Ezekiel preached to a bunch of dry bones. And he told them,
thus saith the Lord, this is, you hear the word of the Lord,
you hear, you dry bones. And so I'm going to say to dry
bones, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. And the Lord said
that when Ezekiel did that, some of them started to come together
and they stood up and it looked like there was something there.
It looked like something was happening. It looked like some
kind of promise, some kind of encouraging something there,
but they were dead. They were still dead. And he
said, now you, you, you prophesy out of the wind. You say, oh
wind, oh wind. breathe upon these slain. This, this is what I'm saying,
Lord, by Your Spirit, speak to Your people today. Lord, cause
us to live. Lord, encourage us. Lord, help
us. We just, we just rail creatures of dust. Lord, You're God. You
said You was going to do this. Lord, please, please do it today. So I prophesied. Verse 10, As
he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived,
and stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army. I did just exactly what the Lord
promised He'd do, and the Lord did it. If the Lord gives life
to anybody here, it's because God was going to give life to
them according to His eternal will and purpose. Because he
eternally, everlastingly loved the people. He had chosen a people.
He had a people that he loved, gave them to his son, betrothed
them to himself. And he knows them. And he's going
to find them. Where are they? No, but he does. And he's going to get them under
the sound of the gospel. How's he going to do it? I don't
know. He used a boyfriend, girlfriend, I don't know. I don't know, I
don't know. But he gonna do it. And when
he's pleased, he gonna speak to him. And he's gonna say unto
them, like that little infant, Lord walked by and he said, I
saw you. Your navel wasn't even cut. Laying there in your blood. Nobody pitied you. Nobody had
swaddled you. And I said to you, live. And
they lived. And they heard. He did just exactly. They stood up on their feet,
exceeding great army. And verses 11 to 14, I'll just
close this down. Then He said unto me, Son of
man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they
say, you know, we preach to dry bones. We say, oh, ye dry bones. You tell them, you tell them,
you tell them what they are by nature. You tell them, oh, ye
dry bones. But when God speaks life to And
God gives them an understanding of themselves. And they see those
two men in them. They see that two natures. Paul
the apostle said, I see in me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth
no good thing. Now you know what's going to
happen? They're going to say it too. Now they say, our bones are dried. Our hope is lost. We're wretched
people. We're cut off. our parts, therefore
prophesy, and you say unto them, Thus saith the LORD God, Behold,
O my people, I will open your graves, I cause you to come up
out of your graves. Oh, the blessed message of being
delivered from the deadness, guilt, the penalty of sin and
what it deserves. I will open your graves, 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. Now here's the evidence of life.
Here's the first evidence of life. God's, God's people regenerated
by the grace and power of God. They know what they are. They
know what they are. And they, they realize that there's
a, there's a big difference now between thinking that they had
some will and free will to exercise and that God was waiting on them
to do something for him. And they said, no Lord, if you
wouldn't have called me, if you wouldn't have stopped me, if
you wouldn't have delivered me, I'd have died in my trespasses
and sins, and I know it. And I thank God. And Lord, I
thank You for delivering me from the, from the pit, from the slew
of despond. Thank You for receiving me unto
Yourself. Thank You, Lord, for keeping
And thank you for your blessed promise, that last verse, verse
14, that you will come back and get me and receive me unto the
place that you've prepared for me, the inheritance that you
prepared for me from before the foundation of the world. I'll
put my spirit in you and you shall live and I shall place
you in your own land. Lord, that land that you gave
me, that you prepared for me, that land at which you've said
I'm an heir, an heir of God, an adjoined heir with Christ. This is sovereign grace. I pray
God bless His Word today. I pray that dry bones might hear
I pray that God might glorify himself in calling out his own
for his honor and his glory and the eternal good of his sheep.