Good morning. Our pastor's out
in Rescue, California this morning. We'll be preaching there this
morning and then heading down to San Diego, I think, maybe
early tomorrow. Preach for Brother Kevin on Tuesday.
So be sure and keep him in our thoughts and prayers as he travels
and preaches. Open your Bible with me to Ezekiel
37. Ezekiel 37. We'll look at a few verses of scripture
here this morning in this passage. Before we begin, let's go to
our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this day. Thank you for this opportunity
to gather together as a people. Lord, we pray that you would
be pleased to be amongst your people here this morning. Lord,
that you would bless us as we look into thy word. Lord, bless
the teaching and hearing of thy word. And in all things, Lord,
let us see the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us see our Savior. And Lord,
cause us to rest in him, to rest in Christ and Christ alone. But
we pray for our pastors as he travels, as he preaches, that
you'd be with him. And Lord, all those who stand
to declare the truth of thy word today. Bless the preaching and
hearing of thy word. This we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Ezekiel 37, let's look
beginning with verse one. Here we read, 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 he caused me to pass by them
round about, and behold, there were very many in the open valley,
and lo, they were very, very dry. Now, the first thing we
see in this text is the universal truth about all men. We're dead,
dead in trespasses and sin. In Romans 5, verse 12, we read,
wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death
by sin, and so death passed upon all men. We have life. Physically, everybody in this
room is alive. That doesn't get the job done.
We're spiritually dead in trespasses and sin. And here in this valley,
this valley in which Ezekiel, he has this vision, he sat down
in the midst of this valley of dry bones, this valley which
he's caused to dwell in and to pass round about, he's surrounded
by nothing but death. He sees nothing but bones, nothing
but old, dry bones, nothing but dead. In our day, it's very much
the same state. Man, in his natural state, is
dead. Dead and ruined, completely ruined
by the fall. Not just stoved up, not just
a broken toe, we're ruined, completely ruined. Something is ruined,
cannot be used anymore. There's no use for it. And like
these dry bones, by nature, we are without hope, without help,
without God in this world. You go out to the cemetery. I
think I heard somebody say Bruce Crabtree lived close to a cemetery
and he'd go out walking in the morning. Every now and then as
he's walking on that path, he'll just shout, does anybody here
want to live? What's the case of that? Nothing. People think that's foolishness,
right? Nobody's going to come up out of the grave. A dead man, there's several problems
there. A dead man can't hear. A dead
man can't do anything. He's dead. Absolutely dead. And we're spiritually dead. The
natural man. Receiveth not the things of God.
They're foolishness, absolute foolishness to it. You know, you can't scare a dead
man. There's no fear. You can't make
a dead man love anything. You can't make a dead man to
repent or to believe. Not a dead man, he can't believe,
he can't hear, he can't do anything. He has no life, and that's the
same for us. Spiritually, we have no life
in us. Spiritually, we have no life,
dead. Look at Romans, turn over to
Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three, look beginning
with verse 10. As it is written, there is none
righteous. No, not one. There is none that
understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all going out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Just like Lazarus of old. laying there, laying there in
the grave. Said his body began to stink and lay there so long.
And that's where he'll remain until the Lord is pleased by
and speak life. He said, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth. All the way back there in the
garden. Adam, dead in sin. Our Lord said this, Almighty
God said this. He said, in the day that you eat thereof, Thou
shalt surely die. Let's read on here in our text. Verse three. And he said unto
me, son of man, can these bones, can they live? And I answered,
well, this is a good answer. Oh Lord God, thou knowest. Only God you know. Here's the
second point. Here's the question. These dead
bones that we talked about, can they live? Can there be life? Can there be life again? And
this is the whole issue of Scripture. Many examples of it throughout
Scripture. This question was asked, can
the Ethiopian, can he change his collar? Can a leper change
his spots? Can there be a smell of a rose
come up from a grave where there's nothing but deadness? Can this cursing tongue, can
it be caused to praise God and give Him glory? Can arrogance,
where arrogance was once found, can that be turned to humility?
Can these bones where they live, can there be life? And Ezekiel
replies, this old Lord God thou knowest. You know, a sinner can
no more give himself life laying in the grave than a dead man
can raise himself. The preacher declares the truth
of God where he can't give life. The church, the church can't
give life, only God can. The sinner cannot save himself.
Scripture declares this, no man, no man can come unto me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. In John six, our Lord
spoke and he said, you will not come to me. Listen, we don't
have the ability. We don't have, by nature, we
don't have the desire to come to him. He said, you will not
come to me that you might have life. I ask you, Can these bones,
can they live? Well, with man, with man, these
things are impossible. The scriptures declare it with
God, all things, all things are possible. Man with his doing
and with his dying, man with his so-called self-righteousness,
man with his giving and with his works, his so-called good
works, man with taking his first step, can he save himself? Absolutely not. Man cannot save
himself. With men, with men, these things
are impossible. The disciples asked this, they
said, who then? Remember when that rich man came
to him? He said, it's easier for a camel to pass through an
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of God. And his disciples, they said, who then? Who then can
be saved? If that's the case, who can be
saved? What was the answer? With man,
it's impossible, but with God, all things, all things are possible.
by his power, by his grace, by his mercy, by his wisdom, his
righteousness, his sanctification, his redemption. That's all his.
It's all his. By his sacrifice for sin, can
these bones, can these bones live? With God, all things, all
things are possible. Oh Lord God, thou knowest. Over in John chapter one, we
read that, I'll just read it for you. He was in the world,
the world was made by him, the world knew him not, he came into
his own and his own received him not, but as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, Not that natural lineage. Not
by the will of the flesh. Listen, the will of this flesh,
the carnal mind is enmity with God. This is what we cry out. We'll not have this man to reign
over us. Not by the will of the flesh,
not by the will of man, not our efforts, not our desires, but of God, but of almighty God. Can these bones heal? Oh, Lord God, you know. Well, let's go back to our text
here in Ezekiel 37. Look at verse four. Again, he
said unto me, prophesy unto these bones, and
say unto them, O ye dry bones, the word of the Lord. Third point,
this is the command. Preach the word. Preach, declare
the word of God to them. That's what we do when we stand
in this pulpit. Any man that stands in this pulpit,
this is what he's charged with, to preach the word. Scripture
says this, that the word of the Lord, it's powerful. It's sharper
than any two-edged sword. The word of the Lord, you know,
things come and go, but the word of the Lord, it endures forever. Paul in Romans 1, 16, he said
this, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
to believe. To the Jew first, also to the
Greek, for therein Therein, in his word, is the righteousness
of Almighty God revealed. You know, think about that command. That's what he said, you prophesy
to these dead bones. Prophesy to them, preach to them. I can't help but think that probably
seemed like a foolish thing to do. I mean, if we're being absolutely
honest, That command probably seemed to be a foolish command. I'm going to prophesy to these
bums. Gosh, I hope nobody drives by
while I'm doing this, right? Prophesy. Preach to them. Listen
to this. It please God. There's no way. Think about God, how his word's
written, everything about it's just amazing. It pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them which believe. And you know what Ezekiel did?
He says he did as he was commanded. He prophesied, he prophesied. You know, the commanders preach the word.
I can't help driving over here, driving to other places. It doesn't
say have bicycle giveaways. You know, it doesn't, we drove
by, me and the boys, I think I've said this before, we were
driving to Lake Erie one time and the place was offering karate
lessons on Wednesday nights. It doesn't say have a car show
to get people to come in. That's not what saves people.
Preaching the gospel, declaring the Lord Jesus Christ, declaring
the truth about man, the truth about God, the truth about what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done for his people. I read another
place, they said if you want to get, I don't even know why
I Googled these things, but it said if you want to get people
to church, offer visitors a gift basket. You don't need a gift
basket. We need to hear the gospel preached,
huh? Preach the word. Paul told Timothy,
he gave him the same instruction. He said, you preach the word.
You be instant in season. You be instant out of season.
He said, you reprove. You know when you reprove someone,
you're telling a fault. You're telling what that fault
is. He said, you rebuke them. You admonish them for that fault.
But he also says exhort. Exhort, and that word means to
listen, to call him near. and comfort, speak a word of
comfort. Exhort with all long-suffering,
with patience, with doctrine, preach the word. That's the command. You still
have Ezekiel 37, look there at verse five and six. Thus saith the Lord God under
these bones, behold, look at these two words carefully,
I will. I will cause breath to enter
into you, and ye shall live. Verse six, I will lay sinews
upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you and ye
shall live and ye shall know that I am the Lord. And this
leads me to our fourth point here. Listen to this declaration of
God. I will and you shall. Let me say that again. I will,
and you shall. Now, if you turn on the TV, or
if you turn on the radio, or you wander into some congregation
that we don't know, you listen to what's being said
in most churches today, so-called churches today. They say this,
if you will, if you will, God will. If you will, they'll say
things like this, let Jesus into your heart. If you will, take
the first step. If you will, give your heart
to Jesus. What would he do with it? If you will, God will. Is that
what scripture declares though? That's what men say, but is that
what scripture declares? Scripture declares, listen, it's
not man. It's not man's opinion. It's
not what man thinks. It's what God's word declares.
That's what we need to shut up and listen to. What does God's
word declare? And here we read it. He says,
I will, and you shall. And this is the message of God's
free and sovereign grace to sinners. Ezekiel didn't ask the bones
to do anything, did he? He didn't make a request to those
bones. No, he declared what God told him to declare, what God
was pleased to do for them. And the gospel doesn't ask us
to do anything. Let me ask you this. If we knew
anything about who all might, God created the heavens and the
earth. All things are in his hands. What is man? What's man going to do for a
holy and righteous God? Listen, it declares what God
has done for His people through the person and work of His Son,
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, don't look to yourselves.
Don't look to anything you might do or might not do. Look to Christ
and rest in Him. That's what He says. He says,
look unto me. and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, I'm
God, and there is none else. And he says, I'll cause breath
to enter into you, and ye shall live. You know, if I don't have
breath, I don't have life. And he says, God's gonna cause
breath to enter into you. You know, all the way back there
in creation, He formed Adam out of the dust of the ground. And
then what did he do? He breathed into him the breath
of life. He just a pile of dirt until
the Lord was pleased to breathe breath into him. In Job, we read
this. It says, in whose hand is the
soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. This is the record. This is the
record. God hath given us eternal life,
and this life is in his son. And it's a free gift. He's given
it. It's all, it's all of him. And
it's a gift. Think about it. You ever been
given something, a gift? Maybe something you cherish.
Maybe it was something dear to you. And then, I had a pocket
knife one time. It was a gift my grandpa gave
me. I lost it. But this gift, the gift of eternal
life, it can never be lost. It can never be taken away. Doesn't that give us hope? A
gift that can never be lost and taken away. And listen, it's
a gift to those ruined by the fall. We're ruined, absolutely
ruined by the fall, redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and regenerated, given life through the Holy Spirit. Job's so-called friends, they
said, the Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the
Almighty has given me life. It's all of him. It's all of
him. I will and ye shall. Ezekiel says, I prophesied there
in verse seven. He says, I prophesied as I was
commanded. Listen, we declare God's word
as he has commanded us. We declare this, that God is
who he says he is. He is almighty God. He's sovereign
in all things. Almighty God who is absolutely
holy and can't just wink at sin. He can't overlook that. Almighty
God who is just and righteous and yet he is merciful and gracious. He said, I will, I will have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. We declare the truth about God.
We declare the truth about man. Man who is born in sin, man who
is, his best works, his absolute best works are filthy rags in
the sight of almighty God. From the sole of the foot to
the top of the head, nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores. They haven't been bound up mollified
with ointment. Man who in the garden disobeyed,
he disobeyed God. One command, one command. People want post 10 commandments
in their yard. I guess it'd be great if we all
abided by the 10 commandments, but listen, we can't abide by
one. We cannot abide by one. When
man was given the choice, and think about this, when man was
given the choice between releasing Barabbas, who had stirred up
rebellion and accused of murder, Pilate said this, he said, whom
would you have me to release to? Barabbas or the Lord Jesus
Christ? Who did we choose? Who did we
away with this man and release unto us Barabbas? And Pilate, he gave him a chance
again, right? He said, willing to release him,
he asked again. And the people, they yelled. They yelled and said, crucify
him. Man said this, let his blood,
not only did they say crucify, but let his blood be upon us
and our children. Listen, declare the word of the
Lord, preach the word, declare the truth about God, we declare
the truth about man, and we declare what God has been pleased to
do for his people through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, He chose us in Christ.
He chose a people in Christ from before the foundation of the
world. He predestinated us. That's what Scripture said. He
predestinated us to be conformed to the image of His Son. He's
going to make us just like His Son. And He made us accepted
in Christ. He made us... We're going to
be just like Him. He says, as He is, as He is,
so are we. in this world. He redeemed us
through his blood. He shed his own blood and died for his people
on the cross. And he did this while we were
yet sinners. Man says you gotta straighten
up and pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Scripture says that
while we were yet sinners, he died. He died for us. He bore
our sin in his body on the tree. made, scripture says he was made
sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. That's the declaration, I will,
I will and ye shall. I'll cause breath to enter into
you and you shall live and you're gonna know, you're gonna know
that I am the Lord. He that hath the Son hath life. Well, lastly, look at beginning
with verse seven. Hear of our text quickly. Verse
seven, so I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied,
there was a noise, and behold, a shaking. Bones came together
bone to bone, and when I beheld low, the sinews and the flesh
came upon them, and skin covered them above, but there was no
breath in them. And he said unto me, prophesy
unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say unto the wind,
thus saith the Lord, come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe upon these slain, that they might live. So I prophesied
as he commanded, and the breath came unto them, and they lived,
and they stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army." Here
we see the results. He said, I preached as I was
commanded. Listen, we're not called to entertain.
called to preach, to preach the gospel. We're not called to provide
tips on how to be healthy and how to be wealthy and how to
be wise. No, we're called to preach the gospel, to hold fast
his faithful word. And it says there was a noise.
There was a shaking. You know, when the word is preached
and the power of God's spirit, there's gonna be some noise.
There'll be a stir, a shaking. You know, when false refuges
are removed, swept out from underneath our feet, there has to be a little
bit of a shaking there, huh? But listen, it's replaced. When that false refuge we're
standing on is removed, we're given a sure foundation, huh?
A tried stone, that's what Scripture says. And you know there's noise. Think about this. There's rejoicing
in heaven over one sinner that repented. Isn't that an amazing
thing that we'd even be taking thought of? Rejoicing in heaven. Well, oh breath, come and breathe
upon these slain. that they might live. Ezekiel
preached and he also prayed to the Spirit of God to give life
where there was no life before. Brother Henry wrote this in one
of his commentaries. He said that doctrines and facts,
as true as they are, they don't save or give life. We must have Christ. We must
have the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our life, to give life. Life has to come from Him. He's
the source of it. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Well, man, dead
in trespasses and sin. The question, can these bones
live? The command, preach the word.
Paul write in the Corinthians, he said, I declare unto you the
gospel, the gospel which I preached unto you, the gospel which you
have received, the gospel wherein you stand, the gospel by which
you are saved. What does it declare? Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. And listen, we
declare the sovereignty of God. What's the, I will and you shall. Can these bones, can these bones
live? Turn with me to one more passage
of Scripture and we'll close. Look at Matthew, Matthew chapter
11. Matthew chapter 11, look at verse
four. Let's start with verse four of Matthew 11. Can these
bones, can they live? Jesus answered and said unto
them, go ye and show John again those things which you do here
and see. The blind received their sight. The lame walked. The lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the
poor have the gospel preached to them. Can these bones, can
they live? God's pleased to speak like this.