I would sure like to meet a lost
sinner. A lost sinner. That may sound strange even to
you. Folks think, well, everybody's
lost. Ask them. Just ask them. I've met very few lost sinners
in my life. I'm talking about men and women
consciously slipping down rapidly into hell and hell coming up
to meet them in desperate need of mercy. Lost sinners. Lost sinners need grace. and
they always get it. Lost sinners need grace and they
always get it. Are you lost? Dead, without hope, without God,
without Christ, perishing in this world, so that you cry in
your soul Our bones are dried, our hope is lost, and we are
cut off. If so, I've got a message for
you. Turn with me again to Ezekiel chapter 37, and hold your hands
open here, or hold your Bibles open here. You find me a lost, helpless
sinner, a man or woman, who knows that he's lost, lost in his own
sin, who cries out, my hope is cut off. My hope is lost, and
I'm cut off. Find me some folks like that,
and I will not hesitate to declare what God, by his prophet, says
in this word to that sinner. God says, I will open your graves. I will cause you to come out
of your graves. We read in the Gospel of Luke
on one occasion that our Lord Jesus spent the day amongst many
sick folk and the very last word of the day is He healed as many
as had need of healing. And He still does. There's never
been a sinner topside of God's earth who knew that he deserved
to go to hell who went to hell. The only people in this world
who go to hell are folks who don't think they're going and
don't think they deserve to go. The only folks in this world
who perish without Christ are those who do not need Christ
or think they don't. The only reason many women do
not believe on the Son of God is because they don't need Him. Just don't need Him. You think
you're good enough to meet God without Him. You stumble over
the righteousness of God in Christ because you think you're righteous
enough. You don't seek God's mercy and grace in Christ because
you don't think you need mercy. Now we're not left to give any
question or speculation about what this prophecy is talking
about. Here in Ezekiel 37 verses 1 through
14. The Lord God tells us plainly
that this vision that he gave to his prophet Ezekiel speaks
about resurrection from the dead. The resurrection of the whole
house of Israel. That is the resurrection of all
God's elect. It speaks of them being gathered
together by the hand and power and grace of God unto their own
land, being gathered at last unto heavenly glory in the perfection
of resurrection glory. Now clearly there are at least
four things to be said with regard to the resurrection here spoken
of. First, the Lord God speaks here obviously about the resurrection
of Israel out of their Babylonian captivity and their return to
the land of Israel. But more importantly, the distant
view of this prophecy refers to the resurrection of the dead
at the last day. Particularly, it refers to the
resurrection of the bodies of God's saints unto everlasting
life when Christ comes again and brings us out of our graves. Yes, someday the silver cord
will break. He will raise us up immediately
when we drop this body of flesh in glory, but then there is a
day coming. when the Son of God shall come
again, and in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, this corruptible shall
put on incorruption, this mortal shall put on immortality, and
I shall see my Savior face to face with these eyes, not another. In my flesh shall
I see God. But then this verse, or this
passage here in Ezekiel 37 gives a word of promise to God's church
in all kinds of languishing, in every age, every place in
the world. As you know, I have No sympathy
with what men call revival in the religious world of our day.
I seldom ever use the word, though certainly it is a biblical word
found clearly set forth in the scriptures. The prophet cries,
revive us, revive us. But what men call revival, and
that which is touted in history as revival, appears to me to
be nothing but self-righteous emotionalism and works. Nothing
else. Nothing else. Even folks who
say they believe in free grace, when they point back to things
that happen and call it revival, they talk about all the froth. But God promises in our languishing
that he will revive us. And he does. In his wise and
good providence, we spend most of our days in the valley and
in trouble. I used to live in the mountains,
but not really. I lived on top of the mountains
in West Virginia, but that's not, it's a mountainous area,
but not very high, just 3,600 feet elevation. Just a couple
of weeks ago, we were down in Rome Mountain, Tennessee. That's
getting a little higher. Vegetation gets a little less. You go out
to the Rockies, across the Sierra Madres, those are mountains. And you know what grows up there?
Nothing. Nothing. Vegetation stops at
a certain level. The air is real light, so you
get lightheaded. But nothing grows. Nothing grows. You don't see anybody living
up there much, nothing grows. And the reason the Lord God keeps
us where he does, looking up, is that we may grow in grace
depending on him, looking to him. It's best that we not have
many mountaintop experiences. Thank God once in a while. We
get up there where there's a little light, but we don't think straight
there. It's a good brief experience,
but as often as we are brought down, he will bring us up. Come, let us return unto the
Lord, for he hath torn, and he will heal us. He hath smitten,
and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive
us. In the third day he will raise
us up and we shall live in his sight. I don't know about you. I can't
speak for your experience. I spend most of my days crying
to God for life. I spend most of my days crying
out to God for some sense of life in my soul. Well, He will
raise us up, and we shall live before Him. Then shall we know,
if we follow on to know the Lord, His going forth is prepared as
the morning, and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter
rain unto the earth. Now those things are clearly
pictured in this prophecy, but primarily, primarily, Primarily,
the reference of this passage is to the spiritual resurrection
of God's elect in the new birth. The new birth is a resurrection
from the dead. And that's what's portrayed in
the resurrection of these dry bones. Hold your hands here in
Ezekiel and turn to Revelation 20. Revelation 20. You remember our Lord said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death into life. That's a resurrection. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. He's
talking about the new birth. Listen to how John describes
it by the angels revelation to him in Revelation 20 verse 6. Blessed and holy, Blessed and
holy, happy and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. That's what I'm talking about,
the new birth. On such, the second death hath
no power. Now I don't know about you, but
I'm interested in that. I'm interested in that which
will give me everlasting blessing. and everlasting holiness, and
that which shall keep me from everlasting death in hell. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection, that is, he that is born of God. On such the second death, hell
and destruction hath no power. All right, let's go back here
to Ezekiel 37, and let me see if I can show you what our Lord
has shown his prophets. This vision is an instructive
picture of the resurrection of a dead sinner from spiritual
death to spiritual life by the sovereign, irresistible, omnipotent
power and grace of God the Holy Spirit. We'll look at five things
in these 14 verses. First, we have in verses 1 and
2, the prophet's vision. The prophet says, the hand of
the Lord was upon me. Without that, the man talking
to you is but sounding brass and clanging cymbal. The hand
of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord. God the Holy Spirit directed
me and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full
of bones. He set me down right in the middle of the folks I
was going to talk to. 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. God took his prophet out
and set him down in a valley. It had been the scene of a battle,
a battle that took place a long, long time ago. And multitudes
were slain in the battle. time had passed and the wind
and the sand had bleached these bones and blown them all over
the place so that the bones were scattered throughout the valley
and they were very dry. What Ezekiel saw was a valley
full of people once alive now dead and they had been dead for
a long, long time. Here's the lesson. No man will
ever preach the gospel of God's grace. No man will ever be used
of God until he learns the state and condition of humanity. Now preachers everywhere grow
in popularity and in fame and they build huge churches, huge
buildings. I read just this week about a
preacher. I wound up shacking up with one
of the deacon's wives, but he had a church of over 100,000
people on the church row. 100,000 people. Didn't know God
from a gourd. I knew the fella. Didn't know
God from a gourd, but 100,000 people on church row. You can
make a lot of show, but no man will preach the gospel. No man
will use or be used of God, except he learned first. what humanity
really is. So God takes his prophet out
and sets him down in the midst of death. Have you ever been there? Answer this one question and
I'll tell you what a man's doctrine is in all other points. Answer
this one question And I will tell you what a preacher's method
is in all things. What is the state of humanity? You see, any man who denies the
utter and absolute, total and complete depravity and inability
of man by nature will make all his doctrine to center on and
to flatter and speak well of man. Turn your television on
when you go home this afternoon if you dare be so foolish and
watch the religion on there and just listen. Everything is designed
to make men feel good about men. Everything is designed to appeal
to the flesh. Every word is designed to make
men think well of themselves and to make men think that they
have God in their pocket and that God just can't possibly
get along another second without them. Everything is man-centered. The methods of all that goes
on are centered upon man, so that everything is designed to
appeal to the eye, to attract the man, to appeal to man's emotions,
to appeal to man's better side. What foolishness. God's prophets
are men who have learned that man by nature is dead. Ezekiel sets down here in a place
where a battle took place. It's a picture of another. A
battle that took place a long, long time ago. Back in the Garden
of Eden. And man was ruined. In Adam,
all die. And we have been dead ever since. When God Almighty saves a sinner,
this is what has to take place. A resurrection. Now that won't be accomplished
by me talking you into making a decision for Jesus. That won't
be accomplished by singing just as I am and setting folks out
in the congregation so that this fellow gets up and moves from
there, that one gets up and moves from there, and then all of a sudden in the
just rush of the moment everybody decides to come forward and make
a decision for Jesus. All that religious tomfoolery. Tomfoolery. The manipulation
of men. Playing with the souls of men
to their everlasting destruction in the name of God. Won't do
anything but carry you to hell. Nothing else. Nothing else. Just this past week I had a letter
from a preacher. A young man wanted to know where
he could get a copy of that movie, The Burning Hell. Y'all may not
remember it. I hadn't been pastor here but
just a few months. All the churches in town, I'm
talking about liberal and conservative, the charismatic and the Baptist,
the Methodist, the Presbyterian and Catholic. All got together,
going to go out to the high school out here at Bull County and let
folks see the burning hell. And you know everybody in town
got saved. I'm talking about all the little children got saved
just like that. Because they scared the hell
out of them and nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else. No. God does not save sinners
by religious tomfoolery. No sir. It does not happen. What
does it take for a sinner to believe on the Son of God? It takes the power of God Almighty. The power of God who gives life. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sins. You see, that's the nature of
man. Death. Death results in corruption. Death means inability. Well, preacher, if a man's dead,
If he's corrupt, if he has no ability, that means he can't
do anything save himself. You got it. You got it. Listen to this. In your flesh
dwells no good thing. Nothing. Now listen to these
Fellas who like to make the gospel palatable to men and they, you
know, they want to apologize. We don't want you to, we don't
want you to feel too bad about yourself. They say, you know,
when the Bible talks about total depravity, it doesn't mean you're
as bad as you could be. Oh, yes, it does. You are just
as bad as you can be. It just ain't all come out yet.
That's all. They that are in the flesh cannot
please God. There is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that
understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Fallen man is fallen, so fallen
that he can't get up. Fallen. He's dead and trespasses
and sins. That's the picture that's given
us here in the book of Ezekiel. I've told you this story before,
but it will bear repetition. It's a true story. Several years
ago, I lived in West Virginia. I was out one day, close to Babcock
State Park, walking. I forgot whether I was hunting
or what I was doing, but whatever it was, I wasn't succeeding at it. We
were walking around in the woods, out in the mountains, and I ran
across an old cemetery. I'm going to talk about an old
cemetery. Trees had grown up between the graves, out in the
middle of the woods, in the mountains. The tombstones were crumbled
and fallen over, and you could just barely make out parts on
them. You could make out a little date
here, part of a name there. And I looked around, be sure
I was by myself, and started preaching. Started preaching. Well, if you
lost your mind, I know. I did it because I wanted to
be able to tell you this story. I promised folks in those graves
that had been there for years, if they'd get up, and go home
with me, I'm married to the best cook in the world. And we'll
feed you, clothe you, I'll provide for you, I'll keep you warm in
shelter, take care of you. Till my daughter gets married,
you can marry her. And you know I wasn't the least
bit concerned about having to take her home with me. Wasn't
the least bit concerned. Cause they're dead. Dead. And in preaching the gospel of
God's free grace, I don't call on men to do something for God.
I call on God to do something for you. Dead. Unless God does something for
you, you're going to stay dead. Unless God does something for
you, you're going to experience a second death. Dead sinners
must have life given to them. So here's the next thing. Verse
3. The Lord asked a question. Son
of man, can these bones live? Can these bones live? God brought his prophet out here
and showed him the condition of his people, dead in trespasses
and in sins. And he asked him, can these bones
live? Now, when you're confronted with the fact that men are dead,
some questions have got to come up. Job asked, how can a man
be just with God? Jeremiah asked, can the Ethiopian
change his skin? Can the leper change his spots?
Our Lord's disciples, when they saw the rich young ruler go away,
they said, who then can be saved? You see, those who understand
that man is dead, dead in trespasses and in sins, understand that
salvation is a miracle of grace. It's a miracle of grace. Only
God can give you life. Only God can raise you from the
dead. Look at verse 3 again. Ezekiel answered. When the Lord
said, Son of man, can these bones live? Ezekiel answered, O Lord,
Thou knowest. He brought here before this valley
of dry bones sets down in the midst of them,
considers how they got in the shape they were in, brought to
utter destruction and death, and the Lord asks him, can these
bones live? And Ezekiel says, Lord, if you're pleased to do something,
they can. I bring you, my friends who know
not our God, before our God. I bring our sons and daughters
before our God. I pray for you children as we
endeavor to raise you, for those who are already scattered in
God's providence here and there, bring you before God. and ask God to do something for
you. Lord God, you know. You see, God's prophets are men
who know that salvation is of the Lord. The Lord asked Jeremiah,
can these bones live? And I asked Ezekiel, and Ezekiel
looks over their condition and he says, in essence, Lord, if
it's up to them, they can. He looks at himself and says,
Lord, if it's up to me, they can't. And then he looks to God
and says, Lord God, thou knowest. All things are possible with
God. Salvation is of the Lord. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
It is the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. Let me tell you why it must be
this way. Let me tell you why we keep declaring, and it needs
to be declared from the rooftop, that no sinner can be saved apart
from God's sovereign intervention. And if God Almighty intervenes
to save, sinners are saved. Why we must declare that salvation
has nothing to do with what you do for God, but everything to
do with what God does for you and in you and with you. Salvation's
a new creation. It's a new creation. A preacher
can't make you new. You can't make yourself new.
The church can't make you new. Salvation's a new birth. Except
you be born again, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
You cannot give yourself birth. And I can't give you birth. And
the church can't give you birth. Salvation is a resurrection from
the dead. And it comes, is brought to pass
by revelation. By revelation. We preach the
gospel to you. Talk about Christ. Proclaim Christ
and Him crucified. Tell you what he's done, who
he is, what he's doing now, where he is, what he's going to do.
And you sit there and think, well, it sounds nice. I wish
I could know who he was talking about. Oh, but when he walks into your
heart, when he knocks down the door
of your heart, bolt and bar, and sets himself up on the throne,
You say, well, half hasn't been told yet. Here he is. You see,
if our gospel is hid, it's hid to them that believe not. In
whom the God of this world hath blinded the eyes of them that
believe not. Oh, but when God comes in saving
power, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
shines in your dark heart. And in the light that he gives,
you may live. Salvation is of the Lord. It's God's work. Only God's work. Altogether God's work. Now, look
at God's command given to his prophet. Look at verse 4, Ezekiel
37. Again he said to me, prophesy
upon these bones. And saying to them, O ye dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord. Well, what a foolish thing to
say. They're dead. You know they can't hear? No,
they can't. Unless God makes them hear. He
says, hear the word of the Lord. Well, that's inconsistent. That's
a denial of man's depravity. Ezekiel told us he's talking
to dead, dry bones. And God told Ezekiel, talk to
the bones. Talk to the bones. Strange way
to work. Strange to you and strange to
me and I'm dead sure strange to Ezekiel. Can you imagine standing
out here in the midst of a graveyard and not talking to these bones
now in order to get an illustration to tell other folks about talking
to bones? But talking to these bones because he's hopeful they'll
live. Talking to these bones because
He expects them to get up and walk away. Talking to these bones
because He expects them to become a mighty army. Talking to the
bones. Hear the word of the Lord. That's right. Thus saith the
Lord God unto these bones. Oh dry bones, I've got a word
from God for you. Behold, God says, I will cause
breath to enter into you. I'm going to put some life in
you. And you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you.
When God gives life, he gives strength. Well, they can't hear,
no, but if God gives them life, they can. They can't come to
Christ, no, but if God gives them life, they can. They can't
run to Jesus, no, but if God gives them life, they can. I
put sinews upon you, and I will bring up flesh upon you. I'm gonna cover you and protect
you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you. Now you
sure enough gonna live. And ye shall live, and ye shall
know that I am the Lord. You see, God Almighty has ordained
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Now that's
the necessity for gospel preaching. Why on earth do we spend the
money and make the sacrifices that are needful to maintain
a place of worship in gospel preaching? Because that's how
God saves sinners. And that's how God edifies his
saints. And that's how God comforts his
elect. That's how God speaks to men. Why on this earth do
we make whatever sacrifices are necessary to maintain our brethren
in mission field? Why would a fellow like Rantz
Heller's father Cliff take their families and move to New Guinea? Why? Either because they're insane
or there's a reason. One of the two. One of the two.
Either they're absolutely stark raving mad or there's a reason.
Because God saves sinners by the foolishness of preaching.
But preaching alone won't do it. Bob Pruitt, if I speak to
you today and any good's done to your soul, you're going to
have to hear somebody other than me. I might be able to entertain
you. I might be able to I inform you,
but I can't speak to your heart. I can't make dead bones hear
my voice. Oh, but if God says hear, you
shall hear. If God, the Holy Spirit, speaks
by His word through these lips of clay, you shall hear. And then, hearing, you shall
live. That's God's method of grace. God could save His elect without
preaching, of course. But he's chosen not to. But our preaching, our labors,
these things we do as a congregation for the furtherance of the gospel.
Lindsay, we couldn't save a flea without his grace. And so the
prophet cries, come, O breath. Breathe upon these slain that
they may live. The wind bloweth where it listeth.
Thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh or whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. The Lord God calls for His prophet
to preach, commands him to preach the gospel of His free grace
upon these dry bones. Now verse seven, so I prophesied
as I was commanded. You remember what Jeremiah heard
God say? He that hath my word, let him
speak my word faithfully. That's it. That's my responsibility. And
that's your responsibility as a body of believers. God has
trusted to our hands the gospel of his free grace. He's put it in our hands in this
generation. He's trusted it to our hands
to proclaim to this generation. Let us proclaim it faithfully.
And the prophet who speaks God's word doesn't come to sinners
with a command for something for them to do. No, no, he comes
and declares to the dead what God says he will do. Look at
verse 5, Ezekiel 37, 5. Thus saith the Lord God to these
bones. Behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and you shall live. And I will sit upon you
and bring flesh upon you and cover you with skin, put breath
in you, and you shall live. And then you shall know that
I am the Lord. You see, God's preachers declare what God does. Works preachers tell you what
you must do. And if you can't see the difference
in those two, you just can't see. I don't know how else to
put it. God's preachers tell you what
God has done, is doing, and shall do on the basis of his word.
Work's preachers tell you what you must do. That's what you've
been told about Galatians. That's it. That's it. And God's
preachers plead with God for you. Works preachers plead and
manipulate you for God. Listen to what the prophet says,
look at verse 9. Then the Lord said to me, prophesy
to the wind, prophesy son of man. and say to the wind, thus
saith the Lord, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe
upon these slain that they may live. I have adapted from my own heart words similar
to those used often by William Huntington. praying as I prepare to preach
to you. I sit right here before I get up to preach to
you as I'm preparing the message. But last thing I do before I
stand up here, I cry out, Lord God, If you will, for the glory of
Christ, by the power of your spirit, speak through this empty,
broken, rusty, worthless pipe to the hearts of your people. Cause them to hear. Oh God, on these dry bones, come
from every direction! Wind blows where it misteth.
You hear the sound thereof, but you don't have any idea where
it's coming from or where it's going. So Lord God, come as you
will, and breathe upon these slain. Now, look at the results. What happens when a man preaches
the gospel? Verse seven, so I prophesied
as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was
a noise. Behold, a shaking. 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, but
there was no breath in them. Verse 10, So I prophesied as
he commanded me, and the breath came unto them, O God, do it! And they lived, and stood up
on their feet an exceeding great army. Verse 13, And ye shall know that I am the
Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people. and brought you out of your graves,
and put my spirit in you, and you shall live. And I shall place
you in your own land, that which is your rightful possession.
Then shall you know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed
it, saith the Lord. Be ye steadfast, unmovable, Always
abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You go to Ross preach
next Sunday. We don't preach for nothing.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall
not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please. It shall prosper in the thing where to I sent it. Now
notice these things. As Ezekiel prophesied, There
was a great commotion among the bones. Something happening he
couldn't explain. Something happening there's no
way on this earth he could tell the bones what's going on among
them. Something happening. And best thing for the fellow
to do when something's happening he can't explain is don't try.
Sometimes this has happened with many of you. You come to me when
God begins to speak to you by his word and If I would, you'd let me talk
you into making a profession of faith when God hasn't given
you faith. I'm just not going to do it.
I'm just not going to do it. I recall when Moose Parks and
his wife Sandy had been married very long. I was preaching down
in North Carolina in Winston-Salem, preaching for his dad when I
was down there taking cancer treatments for cancer. And after
service, Moose and Sandy were headed up to New Jersey. I got
done preaching and everybody left. Just about the time I started
getting in the car, Moose and Sandy turned around and came
back. I guess he'd been gone for a half hour. Drove up and said, Don, Sandy
wants to talk to you. So she came in, sat down and
talked. She'd been raised in church and religious all her
life and she said, God, show me that I'm lost. I've got to
have Christ. I said, well, trust Him. Sent her home. Moose told me
years later, after God finally delivered him from that landmark
mess, he said, he said, I thought, well, surely he could do something
besides that. What do you do? I leave you in God's hands. In
God's hands. Believe on the Son of God. Believe. And then the Spirit of God came,
verse 10, and gave them life. How is this? Come forth! And behold, the dead came forth. And then, when God gave them life, he made himself known in them. And they knew him and glorified
him. as God, their life, and their
Savior. Now, Spirit of God, come and
give life to dead sinners. And if God Almighty gives you
life, you're going to know God. This is life eternal. They might
know thee the only true God. And Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent. And you're going to know that God's the one who gave you
life because you're going to know you was dead. And you're going to glorify God
for doing it. Amen.