Can These Bones Live?

Q: What does the Bible say about dead bones living?

Ezekiel 37 illustrates God's power to give life to the spiritually dead through His Word. In Ezekiel 37, God asks Ezekiel if the dry bones can live, emphasizing that man's deadness in sin cannot call forth life. The passage illustrates that spiritual life comes exclusively from God's sovereign will and power. By preaching God's Word, life is imparted to the spiritually dead, signifying that God alone is responsible for saving souls and bringing them to spiritual vitality. This story communicates how God uses preaching, not entertainment, to awaken those who are spiritually lifeless.

Q: Why is preaching important in the Christian faith?

Preaching is vital because it is the means God uses to impart spiritual life and understanding to His people. Preaching is central to the Christian faith because it serves as the primary tool through which God calls, convicts, and saves individuals. In 1 Corinthians, we see that God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. The proclamation of God's Word is essential as it brings spiritual insight and life to those who are dead in their sins. It is not by human effort or decision-making that one comes to faith, but through the divine revelation found in the preached gospel. Without it, the spiritually dead remain unchanged.

Q: How does God give life to spiritually dead people?

God gives life through the power of His Spirit, as reflected in the preaching of His Word. In Ezekiel 37, God demonstrates His sovereign initiative in giving life by breathing upon the dry bones after Ezekiel prophesies to them. This signifies that spiritual awakening is entirely a work of God wherein He imparts His Holy Spirit to the elect. The act of breathing life into the dead bones illustrates the Holy Spirit's role in regenerating the hearts of believers. Salvation originates from God's sovereign grace, not from any action or decision of the individual. God's authority over life and death shows that when He declares, 'I will,' it is accomplished.

Q: Why do some people find preaching foolishness?

Many perceive preaching as foolishness because it contradicts human wisdom and relies on God's power rather than man's efforts. In 1 Corinthians, Paul explains that the message of the cross seems foolish to those who are perishing, yet to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. This dichotomy exists because the gospel transcends human understanding and challenges conventional thinking. The essence of preaching God's Word is not about human logic or appeals but about the divine authority and wisdom of God, which draws His elect to Himself. As preachers proclaim the gospel, they face rejection from those who trust in their own understanding rather than in the power of God to transform lives.

Q: What is the role of God's sovereign will in salvation?

God's sovereign will dictates that salvation is entirely His work, independent of human decision. The concept of God's sovereign will in salvation indicates that He chooses who will be saved according to His purposes, as reflected in passages like Romans 9:16 and Philippians 2:13. This doctrine affirms that no one can claim credit for their salvation; it is entirely by God's grace that individuals are called and made alive in Christ. The unfolding of God's plan demonstrates His supreme authority over all creation, ensuring that ultimately, all things align with His will. Understanding this doctrine fosters deep humility and gratitude in believers, acknowledging that it is not through any merit of their own but solely through God's will that they obtain salvation.

Back to, well, back to, to Ezekiel
37. Can't go back where he hadn't
been. Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel 37. I read one time an old writer,
a statement he made stuck with me. He said, it's scarcely possible to get a crowd
where the only attraction is God. He said it is scarcely possible
to get a crowd where the only attraction is God. I can illustrate that. If someone advertises a healing
service, a miracle healing service, or a great big gospel singing
concert, you can pack people in. They'll come from all over. But just advertise or just say,
all we're going to do, all we're going to do here, nothing
more, is just preach God's Word. Just go verse by verse through
God's Word. That's all we're going to do.
We're not going to do anything else. But Christ said, now, Christ
said, my sheep, they hear my voice. You see, the preaching
of the gospel is the word, is the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did not he say, they that hear
you, they'll hear me? The preached word is the voice
of Christ which God's sheep hear. It's the voice they hear that
gives them life to begin with, and it's the voice they hear
from then on, and a strange voice, they won't hear it. They won't
listen to it. They won't tolerate it. You see,
we read there in 1 Corinthians 1 about the only thing that God
Almighty uses to draw His people, to convict of sin, to call people,
to convict, to create an interest. The only thing God Almighty uses
is not singing and entertainment and all of these things, anything
to do with the flesh. We go to movies, we go to plays,
we go to ball games and things like that for entertaining the
flesh. God doesn't save a soul through
entertaining the flesh, or by using the flesh at all. You heard Paul saying there in
1 Corinthians, he said, I'm not in this thing to see how many
people I can baptize. That's not what it's all about. He ended up that chapter by saying
it's all about the glory of God. And the thing about it is, You
just preach the glory of God. Just preach the gospel of God's
glory, and this is what saves people. This is what draws people. This is what changes people. You don't have to entertain them. The only thing God uses is the
gospel, the preaching. Yes, the preaching of the gospel.
That's what Romans 10 said. How should they hear? without
a preacher, and how shall they preach except they be sinned?
God hath chosen and pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them to believe." Did you hear that? He pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching, or that is what the world calls
foolishness. What I'm doing right now, what
I'm doing and who I am, is about the most useless vocation on
earth to this world. I recognize it. And I am ashamed
to be associated with these money hungry fakes out there. But the fact is, this is what
God uses. It's what his word says. All right. Here is a story in
Ezekiel 37, which illustrates this. This best illustrates the
power of God. How God calls, how God creates
life. You see, man's dead in sin. dead
to the things of God. Man is not interested in the
things of God. That's what it means to be dead in sin. That
means real alive and enthused about and carried about with
this world, the things of this world, but not interested in
God until something bad happens. But that's not Holy Spirit conviction.
Something bad happened and didn't get into the literature. That's
not it. Well, this story illustrates
the power of God, and I hope you have a Bible and follow along
with me. Now, do you remember chapter
36? Some, if not most, were in here
as we looked at chapter 36. And all the way through, he kept
saying, look at verse 23. Chapter 36, he said, I will sanctify
my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you,
yes, you have profaned in the midst of them. You were religious
and talking about Jesus and God and all that. He said, I'm going
to make you to know the true and living God. You're going
to know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be
sanctified in you before their eye. Verse 24, And I will take
you from among the heathen and gather you and bring you I'll
sprinkle you, I'll cleanse you, verse 26. A new heart I'll give
you, my spirit, a new spirit, verse 27, will I put within you.
You'll walk in my word. You'll dwell in the land, verse
29. I will save you, verse 30. I will multiply the fruit, verse
31. You'll remember and hate yourself.
Remember your doings and hate yourself. So right after he says
all that, I will, I'm going to gather you, I'm going to bring
you, I'm going to give you a new heart, I'm going to put my spirit
in you, I'm going to save you. Well, how? By chapter 37. By this. That the world says,
well, that's foolishness. Let's look at it. Chapter 37,
verse 1, the hand of the Lord was upon me, Ezekiel said. Well,
doesn't everybody say that? Doesn't every preacher say that? Ah, this is Holy Spirit anointed
preaching here. Doesn't every preacher say that?
How do you know? Because he's going to preach
what Ezekiel did. He's going to do what Ezekiel did and nothing
more. What? Preach. What? What's he
going to preach? We'll see. We'll see. Well, he carried me out in the
Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit of the Lord, and set me
down in the midst of the valley which was full of dry bones,
valley full of dry bones, verse 2. And he caused me to pass by
them round about, and behold, or that is, look upon them, observe
them. God said to Ezekiel, walk around
this valley of dry bones, walk all the way around it, look around
you, everywhere. What do you see? Ezekiel said,
verse 2, there were very many, lots of bones, and they were
very dry. Look all around you now, Ezekiel.
What do you see? Everywhere you go, what do you
see? Dry bones, lots of them, and very dry. And people, may I be so bold
as to say, When I look around me in this world, in religion,
no matter the enthusiasm, no matter the, you know, the doing
the wave and all this internet, I see dry bones, very many and
very dry. Amos, in the book of Amos, Amos
gave this prophecy. He said there will be a famine
in the last days, a famine, not of bread. or of water, not a
thirst for water. Oh no, they'll have plenty of
bread, plenty of water, nice homes. It'll be a time of great
prosperity. But he said there'd be a famine
of the hearing of the Word. And as we began by saying that
there's a lot of commotion and emotion and entertainment in
religion today, but you'll find very little of this right here,
verse by verse by verse, teaching, preaching, careful, rightly dividing
God's Word. And that's what I see today.
I see a famine all about us, very many, very dry too. God asked Ezekiel a question
here. He asked him a question, not
for God's information. God never asks a question for
his own information. He does this to make us understand
and realize and declare the answer. Look at it. He said to Ezekiel,
he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? The scripture says man is dead
and trespasses in sin. Every man, every woman, every
young person born in sin. That's what the scripture said.
No matter what this modern generation says. That's what God's Word says. How can man who is dead in trespasses
and sin have life, spiritual life? Can they give themselves life?
Could these bones, you know if the hip bone just decided to
be connected to the thigh and the thigh bone to the knee bone.
Could these bones get up and live? You say that's foolish. Dead's dead, isn't it? Bone,
dry bone, that's pretty dead, isn't it? He's talking about graveyard
dead. Can these bones call on God? Let me ask you that. Could
these bones, if one of these bones had the will to do so,
could it call on God? Could these bones, let me ask
you this, could one of these skeletons take the first step?
I mean, that's all. Just take one step to God and
God would meet him and do the rest. It's laughable, isn't it? But
God's asking Ezekiel this. Can bones do anything? Well, the answer was very obvious
to Ezekiel, wasn't it? Why is this story in here? Why
does God put a story about a valley full of dry bones? Is it talking
about Israel, the army of Israel, and how God arranges this army
to defeat the Canaanites? There is nothing in this book
strictly talking about the state of Israel. This book is a spiritual
book. God is spirit. He is understood
in spiritual language. Every story our Lord told, every
parable was an earthly story that had a spiritual meaning. This is a parable. This is a
parable. This didn't actually literally
happen, I don't believe, but it's a parable. Okay? Why is
it told here? Just to tell us how God gives
life to a dead body? To tell us how God saves sinners.
Yes, sir. How can these bones live? Oh,
look at Ezekiel's answer, verse 3. Ezekiel, the answer was obvious. Oh, Lord God, I don't know. I
don't see how. With bones, it's impossible. But with a God who made bones,
all things are possible. How can bones live? Well, you
know. I don't know. You know, you know how they can
live. And you know what? This naturally applies, that
God not only knows how bones can live, but He must decide
which ones are going to live. Right? They're all bones. They're
all dead bones. God's going to have to decide
which ones are going to live. Over here's a valley full of
dead bones, and over here's a valley. God has to choose. If God chooses
which bones, He will. You know, Lord, you know. These
bones are going to live. You're going to have to make
them live. Well, then God tells Ezekiel to do a strange thing. God tells Ezekiel, well, Ezekiel,
I want you to do something, a strange thing, a foolish thing. If a
person had been walking by about this time and heard and saw Ezekiel doing
what he's about to do, they'd have thought, what a fool. Is
he crazy? Somebody lock him up. Look at
it. Look at verse 4. The Lord said
unto me, Prophesy, or that is, preach upon these bones. Preach
to bones? Yep. And say unto them, O dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord. But Lord, they don't even have
any ears. They're dead, dry bones. preached,
they can't hear their dad. That's right. That's right. They
can't. And I'm sure Ezekiel thought
about this time, what am I going to say? How am I going to say
it? If I jumped and hollered and
screamed and shouted, they wouldn't hear me. If I cried and wept
and if I danced, if I played an instrument, my bones are dead.
They're not going to pay any attention to me. God said, I
want you to do one of them. Here's the important thing. Not
just preach, but do this. Verse 4 said, Say unto them,
O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. the word of the Lord. Like I said, what's the use?
They're dead. And, you know, people argue all
the time with me. They hear this message of God's
sovereign, electing grace. They hear this message all the
time, that man is dead in sin, that God's on the throne, and
man can do nothing, and God must do it all. And this is their
argument. Then why preach? Huh? Why preach? If man's dead, why preach? That's
the argument every time. That's what they'd argue with
Ezekiel. They'd say, well, what are you doing? I'm preaching
to these dead monks. What for? Because God said to them. And we're going to see in a minute,
God said, I'm going to do something. How? Just preaching. Just. Preaching the word. What word? Look at this. Look at what he
read. Look at what he said. And I want you to notice with
me as we go down through here. He never asked one bone to do
anything. Not one time does he ask one
bone to make one move to accept him or God or do anything for
God. Not one time does he ask for
a decision from these bones. Not one time does he tell one
bone to come down to the front and dedicate and consecrate and
rededicate and shake Ezekiel's hand and be baptized and all
that. Not one time. He doesn't ask
anybody anything. All he does is stand up and declare
who God is and what God must do and will do. That's it. Because this is the power of
God and salvation. Just declaring who God is. People, I sat in service after
service, a dead, dry bone. And do you know what the message
was that awakened this dead, God-give-up-slip-for-God young
fellow? This message right here. And to this day, it still fills
me full of joy. Same old message. Preaching the gospel, what the
world calls foolishness. All right, verse 4, he said,
Say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Just
preach my word, Ezekiel. Don't sing, don't dance, don't
entertain them. Old Brother Barnard used to say,
Preachers are entertaining sinners on the road to hell. Preachers are in the entertainment
business today. Not this preacher, Ezekiel. He's in the preaching business.
Preaching what? The Word of God. Well, let's
see what he said. Verse 5, Thus saith the Lord
God unto these bones, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will What are the first words out
of this true preacher sent by God's mouth? Does he say, if you will, O bones, if you will let go and let God
have His way? What does he say? The first thing
God says, I will. God's will be done. I will. Look at what God will do. I will
cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will cause breath to enter
you, and you shall live. You see? And we labor this point so much. Because this world, it seems
like all that's being said in religion today is man's will,
man's will, man's will, if you will, if you will, if you will,
whosoever will. It's all the scripture most religion
knows. When the scriptures are so clear
that it's not of him that willeth or of him that runneth, but of
God that showeth mercy. Romans 9, 16. Philippians 2,
13, it's God which must work in us both to will and to do
of His good pleasure. Philippians 2, 13. John 1, 13,
if anybody's going to be born a son of God, he will not be
by the will of the flesh or the will of man. Man deciding to
do so, it'll be of God. It'll be by God deciding. It'll
be by God saying, I will. Man's dead. And I hear the arguments now
about then why, why, why, why, what? God says, say this. God says, say this. I will. Don't say if you will. Say, I
will. And stand back and watch them
will. Say, God will. And nobody will unless God will. And we're going to see how The
answer said, and God says, and you shall. This was this old
sinner's only hope. As I described to you, that young
rebel who didn't care for God. The only hope I had was if God
grabbed me by the heart and say, listen, I have decided to save
you. Not ask me anything. If you'd
ask me, I'd say, well, I did say no. over and over again. And the only hope for this dead
sinner is for God to grab me and say, listen, I will be thou. I said, okay. Salvation is of the Lord, totally. Ezekiel just declares, all he's
doing here is declaring what God will do. Look at verse 5. It says, the
first thing, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall
live. You shall live. I will cause
breath to enter you. What's this breath? Anywhere
in Scriptures you see mention of breath, the breath of God,
that's the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. Every mention of the
Holy Spirit. The first thing God has to do.
create spiritual life is to send His Holy Spirit. If all you hear this morning
is a man standing up here and preaching, it will be of no use
whatsoever. You might as well not have come. As a matter of fact, it would
have been better off not to have come. It would only add to our condemnation.
by His Spirit, by His Holy Spirit, takes these things and works
on us. Then and then only will a living
soul come forth. You remember when God created
Adam in the beginning? Genesis chapter 2, when God created
the man, it says He created his body, all right? He's a body
uninhabited, though, without a soul. And it says, God breathed
in him and he became a living soul, an animated body now, a
living soul, the breath of God. And even so, that's the way it
is with this thing of preaching. It's just a body of divinity. Or in other words, doctrine and
facts and just a reading of a book and so forth, unless God, by
His Spirit, makes the word life quick, powerful, sharper than
a two-edged sword. You know, some people leave and
they say, you sure stepped on my toes this morning. Well, there
was no power in that. They didn't receive any power.
But if God, by His Spirit, takes the Word of God like a sword,
piercing the heart now, then something has happened. Now, let me illustrate this,
all right? He said, I'll take breath, and cause breath to enter
you, and you shall live. Even concerning the truth, I
sat, and we've got young people in here right now who know the
truth. And I believe in the sovereignty
of God. The difference between knowledge
and life is this. I believe in a sovereign
God. I believe God is sovereign. And life is, I believe God. The difference between this knowledge
of doctrine is, I believe God elected a people. Yes, I believe
that. I believe anybody can be convinced of that from the Scripture.
The difference in just knowledge and deadness without life is,
I believe God elected a people. Life is, oh, sure hope He elected
me. See, this is the difference in
the Holy Spirit. The difference in just dead knowledge
is, I believe Christ's righteousness and Christ's shed blood saved.
Yes, I believe that. I believe the only hope of salvation
is the shed blood of Christ and the righteousness of Christ imputed. And here's life. Oh, boy, I sure
need His blood shed for my guilty soul and His righteousness to
cover my naked soul. You see the difference? I believe the Holy Spirit is
sovereign. Breathe on me, breath of God. God says, I'm going to send My
Spirit unto some. And look what He does to these
bones, all right? He sends the Spirit, verse 6,
and He lays sinews upon you. He said, I will lay sinews upon
you and bring up flesh upon you, cover you with skin, and put
breath in you, and you shall live. You'll know that I am the
Lord. This new creature in Christ was
sinews and flesh. What is this? What is this talking
about, sinews? I'm going to put sinews upon
you. Sinews are tendons, tendons that
are connected to the bone, right? First thing, connected to the
bone, and it holds muscles and organs, and sinews are what holds
everything together, right? Nurse Williams. sinews or ligaments,
tendons. It's what holds everything to
the skeleton itself. All right? What is it when God
brings life to a dead sinner? When God brings life, what's
the first thing He puts in their mind and in their heart, teaches
them, and makes them to realize that it holds everything together?
What is it that holds everything together? God's sovereign grace. That God
reigns in Ruth. God's purpose, he said. Let me illustrate. Back, I was
talking about Ralph Barnard coming to Ashland, Kentucky back nearly
50 years ago. And there was a young seminary
graduate, 21 years old, who didn't know the gospel from
a hole in the ground, but he was saved in a preacher and a
pastor. And Barnard, preaching there,
that young man was sitting down front like, you know, as a young,
zealous, young preacher boy he is, you know, sitting down front.
And he said, Stand up and quote Romans 8.28. And the young man stood up and
said, Well, we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God. And that's it. He started to
sit down in the barn and said, Wait a minute. You didn't quote
all that. Quote it all. And the young fellow
stood up and said, I'm sure he was nervous by this time. And
we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, who are called according to His purpose." He said, just
as soon as he said, purpose, Barnard screamed, Purpose! He said that young man would
just throw him back and everybody else too. Purpose, Barnard said. Learn the meaning of that word
and you'll learn something about the God of the Bible. God does
all things on purpose. The God of the Bible does all
things on purpose. in his sovereign purpose. It all ties together. That there's
nothing left to chance, nothing's in the power of the devil, nothing's
in the power of man. You say, but, but, but, but,
but what? But I don't understand. I don't either. Who can understand
God? If we could understand God, Steve,
he'd be just like us, wouldn't he? Charles Spurgeon used to
say, I don't want a God I can totally understand. That means
He's just like I am. That means He's no smarter than
I am. My daughter's getting older. She doesn't fully understand
me. I've got 30 years on her. And I don't stop and explain
everything I do. I don't have to. I don't need
to. She wouldn't understand it anyway. We're not going to say, who by
searching can find out God unto perfection, Job said. Who can
understand God? 1 Corinthians 2 says, The natural
man receiveth not the things of God, neither can he know them. Why does God do that? Why does
God do that? We don't see the whole picture.
God does. Acts 15, 18 says, Known unto
God are all his works from the beginning. It's all done to God. This is the sin news of Scripture. Understand? This is what holds
it all together. God, I don't understand why you
did this. You don't have to understand.
You don't need to understand. You just need to understand this,
God said, in Isaiah 43. You need to understand that I'm
God. And it starts right there, okay? It starts right there.
Bow to the fact that I am God. Quit shaking your fist in my
face. Bow down and say you're God.
You do what you will. Then maybe I'll explain some
more to you. What if my daughter, and I'm
sorry, Ann, I've got to tell you the only one I have. What
if she kept just questioning me? I don't like that. I don't
like that. You ought not to do that. There's a better way. You
think I'd stop and explain everything to her? Well, I know they do
today. I know parents do it today, you know, time out, honey, time
out. Do you think for a minute that
my parents, you know, cry, crying, there's so many things in parity
that I question that my parents do. I do them now. Remember my
dad used to, you know, crying is just a form of rebellion. See, kids at an early age are
born sinners. And when they start crying, it's
not necessarily because they've got a wet diaper. It's because
they don't like something. And they can't voice their opinion. They can't speak yet. Why? I remember even getting older,
you know, my dad would say, if you don't quit crying, I'm going
to give you something to cry about. You ever hear that, Rick? Did I hear that? Well, I dried
it up then. And now here I am a parent. Have I ever said that to him
years ago? We're not capable of understanding
God. He's God. But this is the first thing he's
going to teach us when he sends his Holy Spirit, the first thing
he's going to teach us, because it's all wrapped up in his purpose. All things, all things. This horrible, terrible, terrible
trial that I didn't think I could possibly endure. This, God did
this? Yes. If he didn't, who did it? And whoever did it must be God,
as strong as God. You see, if anything's left out
of the control of God, if Satan's in control of anything, why doesn't
he destroy everything? Why doesn't he just go ahead
and do it? Huh? Preaching today doesn't make
good sense. These preachers say that, you
know, the devil does all this stuff that's going on, why don't
you just wipe the whole mess out and send everybody to hell?
What's he waiting on? Because 1 Thessalonians 2 says,
"...only him that letteth will let." That is God allowing it. Listen to this quote I gave you
last week. Listen very carefully, you have
to listen very carefully to understand this. As one of the old Puritans
said to Thomas Watson, he said, God hath a hand in the
action where the sin is. In other words, God is controlling
the results of, the consequences of, where the
city was you know the evil whatever's going on God at the hand in the
sea or in the action where the city of God at the hand. His
hand controls all the hand in action even worse than it is. But he said God have no hand
in the scene of the action. Did you hear that. Here's the
best illustration of that. In Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter
4, Peter said to those people that crucified Christ, he said,
You with wicked hands have taken and crucified the Lord of glory.
Men did what they determined to do. Men did what their evil
hearts decided to do, what their free will, if you will, wanted
to do. But what does the rest of it
say? They did what God determined before to be done. And the sooner we come to this
knowledge, the more peace we'll have. I'm telling you the truth,
people. I'm not without trials and troubles. God's people have more trials,
really, than the people of this world. I mean horrible trials. A preacher friend of mine, his youngest daughter committed
suicide. His older daughter is a lesbian. He stands up every Sunday and
says, God's God. No matter what anybody does or
what happens, God is God. There's only peace there. Where
does he get peace? This is the peace that Paul said
which passes understanding. How can you go through this? How would you endure it if you
didn't believe this? How would you endure it if you
didn't believe God did it? Huh? How could you stand there and
watch someone waste away that you dearly love if you didn't
believe God did this for an all-wise person? How could you? I don't see how the people of
this world, they don't. They don't. Huh? If this preacher standing
in this pulpit right now takes the most horrible fall, that doesn't mean, God, it's
not so. Everything I'm saying this morning,
it doesn't mean. It's so. It's the only thing
it is. Just got on my favorite subject.
He said, this is the sinews. I'm going to put sinews upon
you, upon the bones, the skeleton, foundation, sinews. And read
on. He says, and I'll cover you with
skin. I heard that before. Oh, Adam,
the first thing, when Adam fell in the garden, when Adam died
in sin in the garden, the first thing, God did was come preaching
to him, right? He sent the word to him, and
this is what he did. That's what he said, the woman
sees no time. This is what he did, John. The
first thing he did was slay an innocent animal, a lamb, skin
it, shed that innocent animal's blood, skin it, and wrap those
coats of skin around that naked man and woman. They tried to
cover, you know, they tried to cover and tried to make up for
what they'd done by a fig leaf. God saw right through them. They
got to be covered. What's that? Skin. There's only one skin that'll
cover up. Christ said, this is my flesh,
which was broken for you. Christ is that lamb slain before
the foundation of the world, who's covering whose blood covers
a multitude of transgressions. And he says, and I'll cover you
with skin, put flesh upon you, cover you with skin. That's the
robe of Christ's righteousness. Put breath in you, and you'll
live. I'll put my Holy Spirit in you,
and you shall live. You see that? And what's the
result of all that? What's the purpose? Why did God
do all that? Verse 6, You shall know that
I am the Lord. You're not only going to know
that I am the Lord, sovereign over everything, but I am the
Lord that saves you. The salvation is of the Lord.
I am the Lord, your righteousness. Well, so as Ezekiel said, I prophesied. This is what he said to do, preach. That's what he said to preach.
Preach the Word. Peter said the gospel, which was in verse 6.
And God said, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to preach
and I'm going to cover them. I'm going to give them life.
Verse 7, so Ezekiel, I prophesied as I was commanded, nothing more,
nothing less. He didn't dance one dance, sing
one song. And I prophesied and he said,
behold, there was a noise, a shaking. Bones came together, bones trembling
at the Word of God. shaking bone to bone. And when
I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, skin
covered them, and there was no breath in them though. And then
God said unto me, Ezekiel, prophesy unto the wind, call upon, pray
to the wind, prophesy, son of man, say to the wind, O, thus
saith the Lord God, come, please come. from the four winds of
breath and breathe upon these slain that they may live." And
so he prophesied as he was commanded. And lo and behold, breath came
unto them and they lived. They lived. And, you know, it's a real temptation
for me as I preach Sunday after Sunday and after Wednesday and
message after message. young people, we've got quite
a few young people here, older people, visitors come in at times
that may or may not know Christ. I'll just be honest with you,
especially our young people. I want them to know Christ. I want them to believe God. I
want them to be saved from this untoward generation. I don't want to perish. And it's
a real temptation, you know, and this is what the world does.
Get all manner of programs and get all manner of things together,
you know, and just get them involved and be their friend. And I'm
a friend. I guess I'm their friend. I've
been a friend to you, Jennifer, growing up here. Has I been a
friend to you? You're not scared of me? So it would be a real temptation, you
know, let's have ball teams, let's do this, let's do that,
let's get them up. But that won't save a flame.
It just makes friends. The only
thing that makes sons of God believers is this right here. And people argue all the time,
what are you doing for your young people? We're sure not trying to just
entertain them. It's too urgent for that. We're preaching the gospel to
them. It's the only thing God uses. The only thing God uses. Right, Donna? You grew up there.
The only thing. The only thing. It's the one thing they need.
And it's the power of God. We never had a ball team. The
vast congregation I came to never had a ball team, never had a
youth group, so to speak, never had singles ministry and all
that stuff. A woman at the bank said, what do you do for your
singles? I said, same we do for the doubles. Preach the gospel to them. That's
just a dating game. If you want a dating game, go
to the dating game, you know. There's an ad in the newspaper. Call somebody. We want you to
marry Christ. If you marry Christ, you might
not even think you have to get married another time. Right? If our children could
just fall in love with Christ, boy, and then maybe we'll have
a ball game. No. Ezekiel, can these bones live? I don't know, Lord. Preach. And just watch. Just declare
who I am. And stand back. Don't go visit
the bones. Just stand back and watch. And
they'll live. I'm going to make them live just
by preaching. You're looking at a former dry
skeleton. All right, Joe Parks, what have
you got? One hundred and twenty-seven. One hundred twenty-seven. Stand and sing a couple of verses. Let's sing the first and second
stanzas. Hallelujah, what a sight.

Can These Bones Live?

What does the Bible say about dead bones living?

Why is preaching important in the Christian faith?

How does God give life to spiritually dead people?

Why do some people find preaching foolishness?

What is the role of God's sovereign will in salvation?

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Can These Bones Live?

What does the Bible say about dead bones living?

Why is preaching important in the Christian faith?

How does God give life to spiritually dead people?

Why do some people find preaching foolishness?

What is the role of God's sovereign will in salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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