Can These Bones Live

Q: What does the Bible say about the resurrection of the dead?

The Bible promises a resurrection from death to life, particularly through passages like Ezekiel 37 and Revelation 20. Ezekiel 37 vividly portrays the resurrection as not just a return from physical death but a spiritual revival of God's elect. In verses 11-14, God assures His people that He will open their graves and bring them back to life, symbolizing the resurrection of the faithful. This promise extends beyond the immediate historical context to include the ultimate physical resurrection at Christ's return, as seen in Revelation 20, where the first resurrection indicates the new birth — a spiritual transformation by God’s grace.

Q: How do we know that the new birth is a miracle of grace?

The new birth is a work of divine grace confirmed in scripture, where Ephesians 2:1 states we are made alive when we were dead in trespasses. The new birth is fundamentally understood as a miracle of grace achieved by the sovereign power of God. In John 5:24, Jesus explains that those who believe in Him pass from death to life, indicating a profound transformation brought about by divine intervention. Ezekiel 37 serves as an instructive image of this spiritual resurrection. Just as God breathed life into dry bones, He breathes spiritual life into those who are spiritually dead. It emphasizes that this regeneration is not from human effort but a supernatural act of God's grace.

Q: Why is understanding total depravity important for Christians?

Understanding total depravity clarifies humanity's need for God's grace, as all are spiritually dead without intervention. The doctrine of total depravity highlights that all humans are spiritually dead in their sins, as taught in Romans 3:10-12, where it states there is none righteous, no not one. This understanding shapes how Christians engage in ministry, emphasizing that salvation is entirely from God alone. If humanity is truly powerless due to spiritual death, then the work of salvation must be God's alone, not dependent on human effort or merit. Recognizing this need instills dependence on God's grace and leads to genuine evangelism rooted in the truth of the Gospel.

Q: How does preaching relate to the resurrection of the dead?

Preaching proclaims God's promise of resurrection and is essential for imparting spiritual life, as seen in Ezekiel 37. Preaching is central to God's method of reaching the spiritually dead, aligning with the command in Ezekiel 37 to prophesy to the bones. It is through the proclamation of God’s word that the Spirit applies the truth and breathes life into dead hearts. As Paul states in Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing, underscoring that the act of preaching the Gospel is a divine instrument through which God brings about the miracle of regeneration and resurrection. Just as Ezekiel's preaching led to a great revival among the dry bones, our preaching serves the same purpose today.

Q: What does it mean that salvation is entirely the work of God?

Salvation is God's sovereign work, not dependent on human effort, as highlighted in Ephesians 2:8-9. Salvation being a work of God emphasizes His complete sovereignty and grace in the process of redemption. Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear that we are saved by grace through faith, which itself is a gift from God, not of works. This truth is central to Reformed theology and ensures that no one can boast about their own achievements regarding salvation. Understanding that salvation originates from God's will fortifies believers’ assurance in their relationship with Him and fosters humility, as it eliminates the reliance on human merit.

Let's turn together to Ezekiel
chapter 37. Ezekiel chapter 37. Now here is a portion of Holy
Scripture of which I have wanted to preach many times. I refer
to it frequently, but this is the first time I've attempted
to give an exposition of this passage, and I believe I've got
something that will help us. Let's read together the first
three verses, but then you just hold your Bibles open to this
chapter. The hand of the Lord was upon
me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me
down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and
caused me to pass by them round about. And behold, there were
very many in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live?" Now that's
the title of my message. Can these bones live? The Lord God leaves no doubt
and no question at all as to the meaning of this passage of
scripture. It speaks of the resurrection
of God's elect from death, and of their being gathered together
in their own land by the power and grace of God himself. He explains that in verses 11
through 14, if you'd like to read with me. Then he said unto
me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel, Behold,
they say our bones are dried and our hope is lost. We are
cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto
them, thus saith the Lord God. Behold, O my people, I will open
your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves and
will bring you into the land of Israel." He's talking about
a resurrection. not just of the physical nation
Israel, but of all the Israel of God. Not just a resurrection
from a period of captivity and a deliverance from bondage, but
a resurrection from the grave and from death. He says, 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 without
question then, this is a word from God to lost men and women. Lost men and women who have been
made to see their lost and undone condition before God. In verses
11 he says, They say our bones are dry, our hope is lost, we
are cut off for our parts. Oh, you find me some sinners.
Find me some sinners. Men and women who know that they
are lost sinners, lost because of their own sins. who, like
these people described here, say, our bones are dried, our
hope is lost, we're cut off because of our sin. You find me some
lost sinners such as that, and I will not hesitate to declare
the word of God's promise to them. God says to such men and
women, I will open your graves and cause you to come out of
your graves. Are you saying, pastor, that
God will save every lost sinner? That's what I'm saying, every
one of them. All who have need of healing are healed by our
God. All who have need of saving are
saved by His grace. Now, I'm going to tell you something,
and you can mark it down, you can think it over and remember
it in years to come, and you'll understand it in time. There
never has been a man or woman topside of God's earth who knew
that he deserved to go to hell, who went to hell. There's never
been one. There's never been a sinner,
topside of God's earth, who knew that he deserved to go to hell,
who went to hell. Never one. I'm telling you that
everyone who knows himself to be lost, undone, utterly deserving
of the wrath of God, shall obtain mercy by the hand of God's grace. Every one of them. Our Lord Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners, and the only people
in the world who die without Christ are folks who foolishly
imagine that they do not need Christ. This vision is also a
vision of a very great resurrection. Without question, it has reference
to a fourfold resurrection, and the passage cannot be interpreted
or understood unless it's understood in this fourfold sense. First,
it has an immediate reference to the resurrection of the Jews
out of Babylon and of their return to the land of Israel from the
days of their captivity in Babylon by the hand of Cyrus. We have
been studying passages in Isaiah relating to this. In Isaiah 45,
we'll be looking at it tonight, there's a prophecy of this deliverance.
In Daniel chapter 5, I believe it is, we have a history of this
deliverance. But here Ezekiel is speaking
this word from God, or he has this vision from God and records
it for us, and the immediate reference is to the deliverance
of Israel out of Babylonian captivity by the hand of God. A resurrection
up from death, a resurrection up from bondage by God's hand
of providence and of grace. But in the distant view of prophecy,
this vision also refers to the resurrection of the dead at the
last day. Particularly, it refers to the
resurrection of the bodies of God's saints when the Lord Jesus
Christ comes again. He says this plainly. He says,
I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves. Now that can't be understood
of anything short of a literal resurrection of our bodies from
the death and the grave by the power of God when Christ comes
again. He will raise these vile bodies
and they shall be changed, likened to his glorious body. Thirdly,
this vision speaks a word of promise to God's church. It is
a word of promise to God's church in every age. When the church
of God, or any part of it, is brought low and languishing,
God promises to pour out the spirit of life upon his languishing
ones. And it doesn't matter whether
we're talking about the whole visible assembly of God's saints
throughout the earth at any given time, or whether we're talking
about visible assemblies such as this one at various stages
in time. All the word of God to his saints
is a word of promise. He speaks to us this word of
promise. When we are brought low, he will
lift us up. When we are life-wishing, he
will revive the contrite ones. Turn to Hosea, and look at what
Hosea urges us to do. Hosea chapter 6. Listen to this
word. Come, come. You've been brought
low? your hearts cold and empty and
barren and languishing? Come, let us return to the Lord,
for he hath torn, and he will heal us. He hath smitten, and
he will bind us up. After two days will he revive
us, and in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live
in his sight. 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 and former
rain unto the earth." That's His promise to His church at
all times, and to all His church. When you're languishing, He will
revive. He will lift you up. He will
bring about this resurrection. But the primary reference of
this passage is to the spiritual resurrection of God's elect in
the new birth. The Apostle, writing in Revelation
chapter 20, the Apostle John says, Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death shall
have no power. Now, the first resurrection is
the new birth. The first resurrection is a spiritual
resurrection. It is a resurrection from death
to life by the power of God the Holy Spirit through the merits
of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let me show you that. Turn to
John chapter 5. John chapter 5 and verse 24. Our Lord Jesus is speaking. Whenever
we give an interpretation to a passage like this, or to the
passage in Revelation, where our Lord said, blessed and holy
is he that hath part in the first resurrection, then we don't just
draw this out of our head. This is something that we get
from the scriptures. How do you know that's talking
about a spiritual resurrection? How do you know that Ezekiel
37 is talking about a spiritual resurrection? Look in verse 24
of John 5. 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 unto
life." Well, Lord, what do you mean? Verily, verily, I say unto
you, The hour is coming, and now is. That is, I'm not talking
to you about something that shall happen in the future, I'm talking
to you about what's going on right now. And now is, when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live. Now this vision is an instructive
picture of the resurrection of dead sinners from spiritual death
to spiritual life by the sovereign power and irresistible grace
of God the Holy Spirit. I want you to just keep your
Bibles open here to Ezekiel 37, and follow along with me as we
look at this picture, and let me call your attention to four
or five things. First, let's look at the preacher's
vision. In verse one, the hand of the
Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord,
and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full
of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about. And behold,
there were very many in the open valley, and lo, they were very,
very dry. The Lord God carried his prophet
away into a great valley, which apparently at one time, long,
long ago, had been the scene of a horrible battle. It was
apparently a place where a great slaughter had taken place, and
it was a long time since the slaughter took place, because
these bones were not just the bones of men laying as skeletons,
but they were the bones that were once skeletons. into the
open field so that there's no telling which bone belongs to
which bone, and they're just blown about from one place to
the other. The wind and the sand and the powers of the elements
of nature had come and scattered these bones and bleached them
dry, and there they lay in the open soil. No life, nothing connecting
the bones one to the other. They may have strewn men across
the valley. They were very many, they were
very dead, and they'd been that way for a long, long time. They
were very, very dry. Now, here's the lesson, and I'm
going to give you a lesson with each of these as we go along,
and I want you to be sure you get them. Here's a lesson every preacher
has got to learn. every preacher. No man will ever
be used of God until he learns this lesson. Now, he may be a
successful preacher, he may be president of the denomination,
he may have thousands of folks come listen to him preach, but
no man will ever be used of God until he learns this lesson.
What is it? He must be taught the state and
condition of those to whom he preaches. He must be made to
understand that his congregation by nature is utterly dead, totally
depraved. To be wrong here is to be wrong
everywhere. What is the condition of man
by nature? What is it? Now answer that question. Are you listening? Are you listening
to me? What is the condition of man by nature? Answer that
question. And I'll tell you what all your
doctrine is. And I'll tell you how you'll
go about ministering to people. Answer that question. You get
a preacher to answer that question. What's the condition of the folks
you preach to? What are they like? What's their
state by nature? If he answers that question,
you can understand what he teaches in every other point of doctrine,
and you can understand what his method is going to be in all
things. You see, any man who denies the utter, absolute, total
depravity and inability of man by nature will make all his doctrine
to be man-centered. Everything he believes will in
some way or other extol the will, the works, and the worth of man.
And all his methods of ministry will be designed not to convert
men, not to have men raised from the dead, but to manipulate men
in religious activity. Everything. That's commentary
on the whole of the religious world in which we live. You listen
to what men teach. Their doctrine is man-centered
because they don't understand that men are dead. They're dead. They don't understand that men
are utterly without ability before God, and therefore they center
all their doctrine around man's will and his worth and his works. And all of their church activity,
all the methods of ministry they have, are designed to manipulate
men and women into religious profession and religious activity
no more. God's prophets are men who have
learned the true nature and condition of man. Now, we've been with
Ezekiel into this valley of dry bones, and we've been made to
understand that all men by nature are dead in trespasses and in
sins. There was a long, long time ago,
somewhere about 6,000 years ago, there was a battle that took
place back in the Garden of Eden. And as a result of that battle,
all the human race has been left utterly dead. Is that not the
teaching of Scripture? In Adam, all died. Wherefore, as by one man's sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so all have sinned,
and all have sinned, and death has passed upon all men, because
we've all sinned. You have be quickened who were
good in trespasses and in sins. Now this terrible battle happened
a long, long time ago. It left many slain. In fact,
it left everybody slain. All the many who were represented
in Adam were slain in this battle. And there is now an absolute
barrenness about humanity insofar as spiritual things are concerned.
an absolute barrenness, like these bulls that Ezekiel saw. There was no life about them. There was no moisture of life,
no warmth of life, nothing about them. There was absolutely nothing
good to come from them. You see, man by nature is so
dead spiritually that he can't produce one good thing. No. I look at you, and I look
at our sons and daughters, and you who are yet without faith
in Christ, and I preach the gospel to you and pray for you, but
I understand, I understand, and I hope you understand, that if
God doesn't intervene on your behalf, you're going to perish
in your sins. You understand that? The flesh,
in the flesh dwelleth no good thing. and you that are in the
flesh cannot please God. That's the language of scripture.
There is none righteous, there is none that understandeth, there
is none that seeketh after God, there is none that doeth good,
not even one. Man by nature is dead. Now God's
prophets understand that man was ruined in the dark that man
is fallen and he can't get up. All men by nature are dead. That means that you who are yet
without Christ are without God, without hope, without life, without
help, without strength. You're all together dead in trespasses
and in sins. And our understanding of man's
fallen and ruined condition determines everything about our ministry.
Everything. All our doctrine is a reflection
of this doctrine. All of it. If man's dead, then
if he's redeemed, redemption is altogether the work of God.
If he's dead, and he's chosen of God, his election is altogether
by God's grace, and he's dead. If a man's dead and he's born
again, he must be born again altogether by the power of God.
Is that correct? If a man's dead and he's made
to live, he must be made to live altogether by the power of God.
We understand that men are dead, and this is reflected in everything
else we believe. That's the reason we declare
that salvation is altogether the work of God's free grace.
and it also determines our method of evangelism. What we do in
preaching the gospel reflects this doctrine of man's depravity. People sometimes foolishly imagine that if we would begin to compromise
the doctrine. If we would begin to whittle
away a little bit. Don't be so strict. Don't be
so demanding. Don't be so precise. Don't insist
that people reverence God. Don't do that. Maybe folks start
just flocking in here in hordes, and we'd soon see the church
grow into a great multitude. Let me tell you something. You go read this book. Folks
think I'm a little bit rough around the edges. You ought to
try to figure out who this man Ezekiel was. Now, he's not about
to be rough around the edges. He was rough around the edges.
Isaiah, my soul alive. Jeremiah, John the Baptist, God's
prophets. God's prophets in this book.
were always men, were always men who were looked upon by other
men as being less than commendable characters in society because
they weren't polite. They just weren't polite. They
never were polite. Never polite with God's enemies
and never polite with sinners because God's prophets will not
bow and scrape before dead sinners. They won't do it. They won't.
Why should we? Why should we? Why should a man
who speaks for the living God act as though God's purpose and
God's will and God's authority and God's power depends upon
a dead sinner? God's power depends on God, only
on God. You understand that? And so God's
preachers deal with men honestly, without backing up, without compromising,
without backpedaling, without watering down the truth. They
declare folks the truth as God himself declares it, because
they understand if ever you live, it'll be by the power of God
through the truth of God. All right, now look at our Lord's
question in verse three. And he said unto me, son of man,
Can these bones live? Can these bones live? Here's
the second lesson. It must be learned by preachers
and churches. Few people today really believe
it. Few do. We all believe it doctrinally. I know we do. I know every man
and woman here mentally believes it. But I suspect few of us really
believe it. Few of us really believe it. And yet it's of vital importance.
The new birth really is a supernatural miracle of grace. It really is. Can these bones live? Where she and Shirley sitting
there with those two boys? You love them and I do. I want
you boys More than anything on this earth for you, I want you
to know the living God. You understand that? Don't you
ever forget. Don't ever forget I told you that, and I'm going
to keep telling you that. I want you to know the living God. But I can't make them know Him. I can't. I can't. Well, if you didn't require them
to sit still in church, maybe they'd like it better. If you
didn't require them to come to church, maybe they'd like it
better. Well, I can't make them know God, and there's no excuse
for their not knowing him. It's their responsibility, yet
we can't make them know him. The new birth really is a miracle
of grace. It really is. What are you saying,
Pastor? When God shows his preacher the
true condition of man, dead in trespasses and sins, He causes
him to consider some serious questions, some great, profound
questions. Can these bones live? Now, to
the religionist, he'd look at that and say, well, this was
just a hypothetical situation here, and there's no real great
question to that at all. But to the person who understands
what God's teaching, this is a great question. I'm looking
out over this congregation, and I see some dead bones. some dead,
lost sinners. Can they live? Can they live? Is it possible? We've got a community
around us of dead, lost sinners. Can they live? Is it possible
for them to live? We've got our families, our households,
dead, lost sinners. Can they live? Is it possible
for them to live? Now those are great questions.
Those are profound questions. Can dead sinners live before
God? Can an unjust man be made just
with God? Can those who love darkness suddenly
be made to love light? Can men who hate God be transformed
to men who love God? Can men who love wickedness and
drink iniquity like water be made to hunger and thirst after
holiness and righteousness. Job asked the question, how can
a man be just with God? Jeremiah said, can the Ethiopian
change his skin? Can the leopard change his spots?
If that happens, then you who are accustomed to doing evil
can begin to do good. The disciples, you remember in
Matthew, what was it, Matthew 20, 19 or 20, this week we were
reading in our scripture reading, the rich young ruler came to
the Lord Jesus and he said, good master, what good things shall
I do that I may inherit eternal life? And the Lord told him,
go sell everything you got, give it to the poor, come follow after
me and you can be my disciple. And he went away sorrowful. And
the disciples looked at him and they heard what the Lord said.
And they said, well, who can be saved? Who can be saved? Can these bones live? I'm not talking about a mechanical
motion of religion. I'm talking about life. Life. You can take the bones and wire
them together with tradition and custom and ceremony and religious
excitement and you can pull the right strings and make them look
like they're alive and give you all kinds of movement. But can
these bones live? Can they live? I'm talking about
the life I was talking about. A man who hates God being made
to love him. A man who loves iniquity. been
made to seek and hunger and thirst after righteousness. I'm talking
about life. Can these bones live? Well, look at the prophet's answer
in verse 3. He said, O Lord God, thou knowest. When God's preacher realizes
the true condition of man by nature, by birth and by practice,
When he ponders the great miracle of the new birth, he's brought
to depend totally upon the sovereign power and irresistible grace
of Almighty God. Here's the third lesson. God
always teaches his prophet, salvation is of the Lord. You talk to the Lord. It's all together God's work. The Lord said to Jeremiah, can
these bones live? And Jeremiah looked out over
those bones. And he gave considerable consideration
to those bones. Whether dead, They've been dead
a mighty long time. And if it depends on them, no,
they can't live. No, they can't live. God said,
Jeremiah or Ezekiel, can these bones live? And Ezekiel looks
at himself and his talents, his abilities,
and his gifts. And he said, Lord, if it depends
on me, No, there can't be. And then he thought on his God. God's power. God's grace. Out of boldness, dead. Been dead
a long time. Fruitless, dry, lifeless, bold. And there's God in glory. And he said, Lord, you know.
You know. Thou knowest. All things are
possible with God. Salvation is of the Lord. It
is God's work and God's work alone to bring life to the dead. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
The scriptures declare, you hath he quickened who were dead in
trespasses and sins. You see, the new birth, the new
birth is a new creation. It is God Almighty creating out
of nothing. spiritual life, creating in the
void, vacuum, emptiness, and death of your heart, God creates
life. That's the new birth. The new
birth is God raising up the dead. Salvation is God giving birth
to those who had no life. It's God bringing life out of
nothing, bringing life out of death. The new birth is a supernatural
revelation of grace. It is God commanding the light
of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, his son, to shine
in your hearts, so that you see him whom you never saw before. Now, fourthly, look at the Lord's
command in verse four. Again, he said unto me, prophesy
upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, bring the
four winds, O breath, and bring upon these flames, that they
may live." The fourth lesson that God taught his prophet is
the necessity of preaching. Now listen, and the necessity
of that preaching being made effectual by the power of his
spirit. The Lord commanded Ezekiel to
preach. Oh ye dry bones, hear the word
of the Lord! That's strange. That's strange. It looks to me like it'd be a
whole lot better to start finding out which bone fits where and
fit them all together. That's the way we'd do it. Let's
see now. That bone looks like it might
match up to this bone. Let's get this thing worked out.
And if we get them tied together, maybe we can pour a little water
on them, and maybe if we get them and move them around a little
bit, and give them a little activity, and give them something to do,
maybe I'll make them live. I hear preachers, and I hear
church members sometimes say, Oh Brother Joe, he don't come
to church much, let's give him something to do, that'll get
him. Let's get him active, that'll get him. Let's have him to take
midweek service, he'll come on midweek then. Let's have him
take a Sunday school class, then he'll come on Sunday mornings.
But the Lord said, oh boys, hear the word of the Lord. And that's
all. You see, As strange as that commandment
must have seemed to Ezekiel, God's commandment to us is just
as strange in the ears of men. But his commandment is plain
and clear. He says, preach, prophesy, proclaim
the gospel to dead sinners. This is God's method of grace. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for this gospel is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believe it. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. That's God's method
of saving sinners. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. That's how God saves sinners.
Now notice what Ezekiel says in verse 7. So I prophesied as
I was commanded. I prophesied as I was commanded. The Lord God said, he that hath
my word, let him speak it faithfully. God requires no more. and he
will accept no less from his prophets. If I am God's servant,
if I am God's preacher, I have these responsibilities
to seek the word from God's own mouth and then tell you what
God says. That's my responsibility. Now
notice this too. The message that God gave Ezekiel
was not a commandment telling the bones something that they
must do, was it? The Lord didn't say, oh ye bones,
come now and begin to serve the Lord. He didn't say, oh ye bones,
come and make your decision for Jesus. He didn't say, oh ye bones,
come and take the first step toward God and he'll do all the
rest. He didn't say, oh ye bones, start living the Christian life.
People try to get folks to live the Christian life. We've got
a whole world of insane, crazy, religious people who are driving
themselves mad trying to live the Christian life without Christ.
Most insane thing in this world. He didn't say, oh I'll die of
old, start now living the Christian life and live life for Jesus. No, look what he says. Verse
five, thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will
cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. And I will
lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and
cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall
live, and you shall know that I am the Lord." What Ezekiel was commanded to
preach was a declaration and a promise of grace. A declaration
of what God would do, not what the sinner must do. You see,
God's preachers always declare God's works. That's what they
do. They talk about what God does.
We preach Christ crucified. We tell men who Christ is, what
he's done, what he's doing now, and what he's going to do. He
has redeemed us. He is saving us. He will present
us holy and without blame before the presence of his glory. Now
one more commandment was given. The Lord commanded him in verse
9. and said unto me, prophesy unto
the wind. Prophesy, son of man, and say
to the wind, thus saith the Lord God, come from the four winds,
O breath, and breathe upon these slaves, that they may live." might have saved sinners without
our preaching. God could have. God could have
saved sinners without our preaching. But our preaching can never save
a flea without God's grace. And so the Lord commands Ezekiel
and us to do these two things. Preach and pray. Preach and pray. preach and pray. Prophesy unto
the wind. I've been preaching this morning
and I've told you the truth. I've been doing it in this place
here for nearly 13 years. You've heard, you've heard. Sometimes I preach fairly well
and sometimes I just stumble along, seem like God leads me
to myself and I just get through the hour and we're done. But it doesn't matter whether
I preach well or preach lousy, nothing good will be done unless
God the Holy Spirit takes the word and graciously makes it
effectual to your heart. And so, before I preach, and
when I sit down here and I get ready to preach, and when I get
done preaching, I pray, O Spirit of God, come and breathe life. With these words, breathe life! And call sinners to live before
God. Come, O breath. Breathe upon
these slain. Amen. Fifth day. Look at the glorious results
they're giving. Now here's the fifth lesson. First, we must learn the condition
of man, and second, the miracle of the new birth. Third, we must
be taught the salvations of the Lord, and fourth, the necessity
of preaching. But be sure you learn this fifth
lesson as well. Our labor is not in vain in the
Lord. We won't read all the verses
just for brevity's sake. Let's notice quickly these three
things that happen as the result of Ezekiel preaching and the
Spirit of God coming with the Word. First, there was a commotion
among the bones. In verse 7, Ezekiel says, 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, Lord, the
sinews in the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them
above. But there was no breath in them. There was something happening.
It looked like life. And yet the breath of life wasn't
there yet. I think this might very well
be comparable to Holy Spirit conviction as we experience it.
When Saul of Tarsus was stricken down on the Damascus road, the
scripture tells us that he, trembling and shaking, cried, Lord, my
Lord, There was a stretching, there was a trembling, there
was a commotion, there was something that got his attention. And that's
what God does with sinners, he gets their attention. He gets
their attention. But then, after the commotion,
when the Spirit of God came, there was life. So I prophesied,
as he commanded me, and the breath came unto them. and they lived
and stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army." Oh,
when the Spirit of God comes, he calls his dead sinners to
live. He passes by, he spreads the
skirt of Christ's righteousness over you, and he says, And I want to tell you something. If he ever does it, you won't
have to debate and wonder whether or not it's happened. He will
cause you to know that you live by his grace. He comes to Lazarus, that empty
tomb, and he says, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus could never
come forth, he was dead. Oh, but with his word, came the
power of his grace and of his spirit. Lazarus came forth. And if he's pleased to speak
now by his word, if his spirit will attend the word carried
home to your heart, you dead ones will live before him and
come to Christ. And then thirdly, the Lord God
was known and glorified. He said in verse 13, 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. Verse 14,
the latter part, you know, then shall you know that I, the Lord,
have spoken it and performed it, saith the Lord. The power
of God gave these bones life. The Spirit of God gave them breath,
that is, gave them faith. And they gave God the glory because
God made them to live. Now let me read one text of scripture
to you and I'll send you home. Psalm 127. Psalm 127. You and I are a tent king as
we serve the cause of our God in this world. to build the house and kingdom
of God, are we not? That's what we're here for. We
want to build his house and his kingdom. Now look at verse one. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain to build it. Except the Lord keep the city,
the watchman wake it, but in vain. It is vain for you to rise
up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for
so he giveth his beloved sleep. Low children are an heritage
of the Lord, even in the spiritual sense. When Zion prevails and
brings forth her children, they're an heritage from the Lord, and
the fruit of the womb is his reward. But what are we to do? Let's do exactly what God's commanded
us to do. Now let's do it. Let's be zealous and earnest
and do exactly what God's commanded us to do. Let's preach. Preach the gospel to every creature.
He commands us to. Let us give ourselves relentlessly
to this business and pray. Pray. Pray for God's blessing
upon every endeavor for the preaching of the gospel. Pray that the
spirit of God will honor his word and our labors in his word
with a life-giving power to dead sinners. Pray. And we'll wait
on God. We'll wait on God. What if nothing
happens? Well, now I'm going to tell you
something. I get a little discouraged sometimes
because I don't see things happening the way I think they ought to
happen and you do too. We all do. But if nothing happens, if nothing
happens, I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to preach
and we're going to pray and nothing else. We're going to wait on
God. We're not about to compromise
his truth. And we're not about to lower the standard of his
gospel. And we're not about to go about trying to entertain
men on their road to hell to make it look like we're doing
something for God. We're going to preach and pray and wait on
God. That's all. That's all. And God
will honor it in his way and in his time for his glory. And that's all I'm interested
in. Well, that's a lie. That's not so. That's all I'll
be interested in. I'm afraid I'm far too much interested
in many other things, but we ought to be interested in nothing
but his glory. Amen.

Can These Bones Live

What does the Bible say about the resurrection of the dead?

How do we know that the new birth is a miracle of grace?

Why is understanding total depravity important for Christians?

How does preaching relate to the resurrection of the dead?

What does it mean that salvation is entirely the work of God?

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Can These Bones Live

What does the Bible say about the resurrection of the dead?

How do we know that the new birth is a miracle of grace?

Why is understanding total depravity important for Christians?

How does preaching relate to the resurrection of the dead?

What does it mean that salvation is entirely the work of God?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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