All right, Ezekiel 37. Let's begin reading in verse
one. Verse one of Ezekiel 37. 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 calls me to pass by them
round about. And behold, there were very many
in the open valley. And lo, they were very dry."
Now, the first thing we see here in our text is a universal truth about all
men. dead in trespasses and sin. This valley that he passed through
here, he said, behold, everything around him was dry bones, was
dry bones. They were very, very dry. And
this is a picture of man's deadness. We're completely dead in trespasses
and sin. It says, we read over in Romans
5, By one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin.
So death passed upon all men. So here in this valley, Ezekiel,
it says he sat down. He sat down in the midst of them,
this valley of dry bones, and he passed round about. He went
around it several times to behold it, to be shown. God revealed
to him that it's just nothing but deadness, just nothing but
deadness. And again, in our day, in our
day, the case is very much the same. It's very much the same. Man in his natural state is dead,
ruined, ruined by that fall, all the way back, all the way
back to the garden. And like these dry bones, By
nature, we're without hope, we're without help, we're without Christ,
we're without God. Dead in trespasses and sin. You know, a dead man has no feeling. You can't appeal to a dead man's
will. You can't scare a dead man. There's
no fear. There's no fear in a dead man.
You can't make him love. You can't cause him to repent.
Not a dead man. A dead man, there's nothing to
appeal to there. He can't believe. He can't do
any of those things. He has no life. And by nature,
we have no life in us. We have no spiritual life. He's
dead. Dead, dead, dead, dead. Turn
to Romans 3. Hold your place there and turn
to Romans chapter 3. Look at verse, beginning with
verse 10 of Romans 3. As it is written, there is none
righteous, None. There's 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. And just in case we didn't hear
it the first time, there's none that doeth good. No, not one. Not one. Just like Lazarus laying there
in the grave. Dead, we're dead in sin. And let's read on in our text
here. Back to Ezekiel 37. Verse three, he said unto me,
son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, oh Lord God,
thou knowest. Only you know. Can these bones
live? Brother Henry wrote in his commentary,
he said this, this is the whole issue of Scripture. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin? Can the leopard change his spots? Can the fragrance of a rose come
forth from the grave? Can the cursing tongue, praise
God, Can he be turned to love? Can hate, can a man that hates,
can he be turned to love? And can arrogance be turned to
humility? Can these bones live? Can these
bones live? And Ezekiel replies, oh Lord
God, thou knowest. Only you know, Lord. You know,
a sinner can no more give himself life than a man that's laying
in the grave can give himself life. I was thinking about this. Me
and the boys, we mowed a cemetery back home. How foolish, how foolish
would people think we were if we laid down our weed eaters
and stood there over that grave and told somebody to come up
out of the grave? You know, if you really want
to, if you really want to, you could come up out of that grave.
People would drive by and they'd think you were crazy, wouldn't
they? They'd know you were crazy. A dead man. The preacher has
no power to save. The church has no power to save. A sinner has no power to save
himself any more than that dead man can bring himself up out
of the grave. No man can come unto the Father.
No man can come unto me except the Father. Except the Father
which hath sent me, draw him. Only God, only God can save a
sinner. Turn to Matthew, turn over to
Matthew chapter 19. Look beginning with verse 16
of Matthew chapter 19. And behold, one came and said
unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life? And he said unto him, why callest
thou me good? There's none good but one and
that is God. But if thou would enter into
life, keep the commandments. And he said unto him, which?
Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness,
honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. And the young man saith unto
him, all these things, all these things have I kept from my youth
up. What like I yet? And Jesus said unto him, he hit
him where it hurt here, didn't he? He said, you go, he said,
if you'd be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, give to the poor
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow
me. And when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful. He went away sorrowful for he
had great possessions. And Jesus said unto his disciples,
verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of heaven. And again, I say to you, it's
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And when the
disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed and they said,
who then? Who then can be saved? How's
that? How's it possible? Look what
he says here. Jesus beheld them and he said
unto him, with men, it's impossible. With men, it's impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. This thing of all things, but
salvation. Salvation, it's not in the hands
of man, it's in the hands of God. With God, all things are
possible. Can these bones live? Can these
bones live? with men, with his doing, and
with his dying, with his self-righteousness, with his giving, with his works,
with taking his first step, whatever it might be. Can he save himself
with men? Impossible, but with God. by His power, by His grace, by
His mercy, by His wisdom, His righteousness, His sanctification,
His sacrifice for sin, by His salvation with God, all things,
all things are possible. Can these bones live? Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord God, thou, thou knowest. Over in John chapter one, he
said this, we read this, he was in the world and the world that
was made by him and the world knew him not. He came into his
own, his own received him not, but as many as received him,
to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even
to those that believe on his name, which were born. which
were born, not of blood, not of natural lineage. Take no confidence
in your natural lineage. Not of the will of the flesh.
You know, we read that the carnal mind, the carnal mind is enmity
with God. Not of the will of man, our efforts,
our desires, but of God, but of God. Can these bones live? Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord, thou knowest. Oh, Lord God, thou knowest. Now,
go back to our text, back 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, hear the word of the Lord, Preach to him. Preach to him. And don't let him forget this.
He says, oh ye dry bones. Don't let him forget you're dead.
You're dead in trespasses and sin. Preach to him. Declare the
word of God to him. Declare the word of the Lord.
And that's what we do from this pulpit. That's what your pastor
faithfully does. And in Kingsport, and in all
these places where God has set up pastors over a church, they
preach the Word. They preach the Word. That's
what we better do, isn't it? Is preach God's gospel. Preach His Word. Paul over in
Romans, he said, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God. power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jews first and also to the
Greeks, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed." It's the power
of God. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
He said, preach the word. Preach the word. And you know,
it probably, I would say even to Ezekiel, there's that pile
of dry bones out there. It probably seemed like a foolish
thing to him when he was told, preach the word, preach the word. But you know what? We read it,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them which
are lost. He doesn't say, go build a gym,
right? He doesn't go say, build a life
center and invite everybody to play basketball on Wednesday
night. No, no. He doesn't say, go use man's
means or methods, what's popular in the day, go do that. No, he
says, preach the word. Preach the gospel. Faithfully
preach the gospel. Paul told Timothy, he said, Preach
the Word. Be instant in season. You know,
there's times it seems like when the Word of God flourishes. There's
time when many believe. Be instant in season. Be instant
out of season. There's times when you wonder,
is there anybody, is there anybody gonna hear the Word of God? Be
instant in season. Be instant out of season. Reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering. Preach, preach the Word. Are you still in Ezekiel 37? Look at verse 5 and 6 here. Thus
saith the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God unto
these bones, Behold, I'll cause breath to enter into you, and
ye shall live. and I'll lay sinews upon you,
and cover your skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live. Ye shall know that I am the Lord."
Here God declares, I will and ye shall. Did you hear that? I will and ye shall, not anything
else. If you turn on the TV or if you
turn on the radio or probably if you walk into any other so-called
church in Pikeville or anywhere else, that's not what you're
going to hear. You're going to hear this. You're
going to hear, if you will, God will. If you will, God will. Let Jesus in your heart. If you
will, take the first step. If you will, give your heart
to him. He has no need for those things,
huh? Dead and trespassing, that's right. If you will, no, no. God's word declares this, I will. I will and you shall. This is a message of God's free
and sovereign grace to sinners, to sinners. Ezekiel didn't stand
there and say, you know, if you bones would just, if you just
clean yourself up, you'd be all right. No, no, no. Imagine the foolishness of that. Tell that bone, you take the
first, First step is a dead, dry bone. That dead, dry bone's
not gonna do anything but lay there. Now, he declares what God has
pleased to do for them. The gospel doesn't ask or tell
you what you can do for God. The gospel declares what God
has done for his people through His Son, through His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Don't look to yourselves, look
to Christ, look to Him. He said, look unto Me and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth, from God, and there is
none else. He says, you say this, I'll cause
breath, I'll cause, I'll do this, I'll cause breath to enter into
you, and ye shall live. the result of what He's done,
He's done. Brethren, this is the record
that God hath given us eternal life, and this life, it's in
His Son. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and it's given. You see, it's given. It's a free
gift. It's His gift to His people, and it's a gift that cannot be
lost. It's a gift that cannot be taken
away. It's what He's given to His people. To those that are ruined by the
fall. To those that He's redeemed by the blood of His dear Son.
To those who have been, He's regenerated by the power of the
Holy Spirit. It's a gift that is given. It's
given. I will. He said, I will and ye,
ye shall. We declare God's word as he has
commanded. We declare God as he is. He's
almighty God. Almighty God who's sovereign
in all that he does. Almighty God who is absolutely
holy. and cannot look upon sin. He's
of two holy eyes to look upon sin. Almighty God who's just
and righteous in all that he does, yet gracious and merciful
to his people. He said, 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 was born in sin, dead
in trespasses and sin, man whose best works are filthy rags in
the sight of Almighty God, man of whom it is said, from the
sole of the foot to the top of the head, nothing but wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores, no sound to sin in, man who in
the garden, all the way back in the garden, disobeyed God,
rebelled against God, man who was given the choice of releasing
Barabbas, a man who had stirred up rebellion, a man who was a
murderer. When man acts on his free will,
think about that. What would we choose? What would
we choose between Barabbas, a choice between Barabbas and the Lord
Jesus Christ and the people set away with him? We said, Each
one of us, if we were there, we would have said the same thing.
Away with him. Crucify him. Crucify him. Man, who said this. Remember that? Pilate said, Pilate
asked him again. And they said this. Man said
this. We said this. Let his blood be
upon us and upon our children. That's the truth about man. Declare the word of the Lord. Preach the word. Declare the
truth about God. Declare the truth about man. And to declare the truth about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider what God has been pleased
to do for his people through his son, through the Lord Jesus
Christ. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world, predestinated us to be made like
His Son, perfect, holy. Think about that. Made us accepted,
accepted in the beloved. Made us accepted in Christ. Redeemed
us through His blood. He came here, He shed His own
blood. He died for His people. And he
did this while we were yet sinners. You know, it's one thing to do
something nice for those that we love, isn't it? I love my boy. I'd do anything
for either one of them or for their mom. That's easy, isn't
it? That's easy. But for those that plucked out
his beard, those that rebelled against him, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. He was made sin for
us, absolutely made sin for us, took our sin upon Him and makes
us righteous. gives us His righteousness. Oh,
the truth, the truth of the gospel. I will and ye shall. It's His work. It's what He's
done for His people. He said, I'll cause breath to
enter into you and ye shall live. And you'll know this, you'll
know that I'm the Lord. I'm the Lord. Well, lastly, let's
look at, let's finish here. Look at Ezekiel, back to Ezekiel
37. Look at verse 7. So I prophesied as I was commanded,
and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a shaking,
and the bones came together, bone to his bone, and when I
beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and
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 God, come
from the four winds, O breaths, and breathe upon these slain
that they may live. So I prophesied, as he commanded
me, and breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon
their feet, an exceeding great army. Now here we see, here we
see the results. Here we see the results. He said,
I preached. I preached as I was commanded.
Ezekiel said, I did what God commanded me to do. I did that.
I preached. You know, we're not called to
entertain. And there's a lot of that going
on. I remember Henry years ago, he'd say, we're not entertaining
sinners on the road to hell. We're preaching the gospel. We're
not entertaining. We're not given tips on how to
stay healthy or be wealthy and all those things. We're called
to preach the gospel, to hold fast the faithful word. I preached. He said, I preached
as I was commanded. He said, there was a noise. There
was a noise and there was a shaking. You know, when the word is preached
in the power of God's spirit, there'll be a noise. They'll
be a noise, you know, a stir or a shaking. Those false refuges
that we've leaned on for so long, those things are going to be
broken up. They've got to be torn. They've
got to be torn down. Those things that we rested in
and relied on, those things have got to be ... At a construction
site, there's noise, isn't there? That old foundation has got to
be torn down. But you know what? They're going
to be replaced with a sure foundation, aren't they? You know, back there
when our Lord, He was talking about, He said there were many
lepers. There were many lepers back there
in that day. God sent His prophet to one. Boy, those people's foundation
was shaking. They were stirred up. They picked
him up and they would cast him over a cliff. Those foundations
have to be tore down. He said there was a shaking,
there was a noise. And you know there's a noise,
we read there's joy in heaven, there's rejoicing in heaven over
one sinner that repented, one that he calls to himself. And
then he said this, oh breath, oh breath come and breathe upon
these slain that they might live. Ezekiel preached, and he prayed
to the Spirit of God, and he would come and give life. This come out of Henry's commentary
too, and I just love this. Doctrine and facts. Doctrine
and facts is as true as they are, as true as they are, they
don't save or give life. Only Christ can do that. Only
God can do that through His Son. We must have Christ, who is our
life, to give life. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God,
he that's resting in his own works, he that's resting in his
own ways, hath not the Son of God. and he hath not life, but
O, he that hath the Son hath life." All right, let's stop
right there.