Our message this morning is on
the subject, Can These Bones Live? And my text is found in
Ezekiel chapter 37. I'm going to read the first three
verses. I'd like for you to take your
Bibles and open them with me to the 37th chapter of Ezekiel. And let me read before I bring
the message. three verses, and then as I go
along and bring you the different points that I feel in quest of
God's Spirit to present to you, I'll be reading other verses.
But here, first of all, verses 1 through 3, Ezekiel 37. 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 a 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 to me, Son of man,
can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou
knowest." Now, we don't have to be in doubt about the first
meaning or application of this scripture. It especially refers
to the return of Israel out of all nations to their own land. Now, if you look at verses 11
through 14, in that same chapter that you have open there, Ezekiel
37, verses 11 through 14, you'll have the Lord telling the prophet
what this vision means, that is, the first application. He
says in verse 11, son of man, these bones are the whole house
of Israel. That's what they represent. He
took the prophet of God and he set him down in the midst of
a great valley. And all around him were very
many bones and they were dry. They'd been there a long time.
And he caused him to walk around and see all of these bones scattered
all over the valley. And he said, can these bones
live? And the prophet said, Lord God, thou knowest. And then the
Lord said, now these bones are the whole house of Israel. Now
listen as he goes on. He said, Israel, I will open
your grave, and I will cause you to come out of your graves
and bring you into the land of Israel. I will place you in your
own land. Then shall you know that I, the
Lord, have spoken it, and I, the Lord, have performed it.
Now, I don't profess to be able to predict the future. I really
don't know what's going to take place in the future. I know that
God knows and God holds the future, and whatever takes place will
be for his glory and our good. But we have seen, we have seen
the fulfillment of much of this prophecy in our own generation.
We have seen this little nation, Israel, arise in 1948, declared
to be a nation again. We've seen these people who were
scattered all over the world in many nations. We've seen them
come back to their own land, as it were, out of graves. There was no such nation as Israel.
They were scattered all over the world, and here now is a
little nation called Israel that is very important in world politics,
in the future of this world. And they're very prominent, and
yet they're only this recent time, only a few years old. And
this is what God is saying. He's saying that Israel shall
return to their own land. And there's more. If you read
the 38th chapter of Ezekiel, you'll find a great war is predicted
against Israel, a war in which Israel will fight many nations,
and God himself will intervene in that conflict, and God himself
will unbear his arm and come to the defense of Israel. And
if you read Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11, you'll find that
the scripture, through the Apostle Paul, predicts great things for
the children of Israel, for the seed of Abraham, for the national
people of God. So that's the first reference,
when God took Ezekiel down into the valley and let him walk round
about among all of these many dry, bleached, parched, barren
bones. And when he said, can these bones
live? And the prophet said, Lord, God thou knowest, the first application,
the primary reference is to the nation Israel that has been scattered
all over the world in graves, as it were. And God said, I'll
bring you out of your graves and I'll return you to your own
land, to the land of Israel. God has done that, but there's
a spiritual application. And you have to see this in everything
that's written in the Old Testament. When Moses lifted up the brazen
serpent, there's a spiritual application there. Christ said,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. When Jonah was three
days and three nights in the belly of the fish, there's a
spiritual application. Christ our Lord was three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth. The tabernacle,
the veil, the renting of the veil, The high priest going into
the Holy of Holies, the sacrifices, the Passover, the rock that was
smitten that gave forth water, all of these scriptures in the
Old Testament refer some way to the work of Christ in redeeming
his people from sin. And this very scripture right
here has a spiritual application. It's a picture of the resurrection
of dead sinners from spiritual graves by the power and the Spirit
of God. Now, I have five things that
I want to point out to you, and it'll help you remember them
if you'll listen to this outline. Now, first of all, we have the
preacher's vision, or the prophet's vision. He set me down in the
midst of a valley full of bones, and lo, they were very many,
and lo, they were very dry. Evidently, a terrible battle
had taken place in this valley. And it had taken place a long
time ago, because these bones were very dry. The prophet points
that out in particular. He says they were very dry. That
is, many, many years had passed by, and the sun had bleached
them, and the wind had blown over them and dried them out,
and the sand had partially covered them. And as he looked round
about him, there were so many of them, and they were so very
dry. What is God saying to the preacher?
The first thing that the true preacher learns about his congregation
is their state and their condition. That's the first thing that God
teaches a true minister of the gospel. What is the condition
of man by nature and by birth? To be wrong on this point is
to be wrong on all of our theology. What is the condition of man
by birth and by nature? He's dead. He's dead in trespasses
and sins. The scripture says in Romans
5.12, by one man's Death passed upon all men for
all sin. In 1 Corinthians 15, 22, it says
in Adam, all died. In Ephesians 2, 1, it says you
hath be quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. It happened
a long time ago. As the prophet of God stands
before a congregation of people, before a world of people, he's
like this prophet standing in the valley of dry bones. They're
very dead. They're very many. They're very
dry. They've been dead a long time. When did this battle take
place? It took place back in the Garden
of Eden. When Adam sinned against God,
and when Adam sinned as our representative, as our federal head, death, judgment,
condemnation passed upon all men. And there are very many,
not only many, but all have sinned and come short of God's glory.
And there's none righteous, no, not one. And there's none good,
no, not one. And there's none that understands
it. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone
to his own way. And these bones are very dry. They're lifeless. They're lifeless. They have no spiritual life whatsoever. Imagine this man's feeling. Here
he is, the prophet of God. And he's standing in the midst
of a valley, and all around him, everywhere, are just dry, parched,
bleak, dead bones. There they are. And God is saying
to this prophet, this is the condition of man in Adam, in
the fall. This is the consequences of that
battle fought in the Garden of Eden. This is the consequences
of man's fall. This is the condition of all
men by nature. In the flesh dwelleth no good
thing. In the flesh no man can please God. There is none that
seeketh after God. There altogether become unprofitable,
and we'll never have an effective gospel ministry until we understand
the condition of the people to whom we're preaching. We'll never
have an effective gospel ministry until we understand the condition
of the people to whom we're preaching. They're without God, they're
without Christ, they're without hope, they're without help, they're
without strength. That's what the scriptures say,
dead in prefaces and scenes. All right, the second thing that
God shows the true prophet and the true preacher, here's the
question. Son of man, can these bones live? Can these bones live? Now, no
man is going to have an effective gospel ministry until he knows
the true condition of the people to whom he's ministering, any
more than a doctor can help a patient if he can't diagnose the disease.
Now, a doctor, first of all, has got to find out what's wrong
with you before he can help you. He's got to find out what is
your problem, what is your disease, what is your trouble, before
he can effectively cure you. And even so, a minister has got
to know the condition of the people to whom he preaches. And
the Scripture says they're dead. They're without life. They're
without spiritual life. They're not mentally dead or
morally dead or physically dead. They're dead spiritually. the
life of God is gone, just like these bones were without any
natural life, sinners are without any spiritual life. Now here's
the question, can they live? And this is the question, this
is when God shows a preacher the true condition of man by
nature, he causes that preacher to consider some questions. Can
these bones live? Can these dead sinners live unto
God? Can these people who love darkness
Can they love light? Can these people who are unjust
be just with God? Can these men who hate God love
him? Can these men who love evil hunger
for righteousness? Job asked this question. He said,
how can man be just with God? Behold the moon, it shineth not.
The stars are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable
and filthy is man that drinks iniquity like the water? Job
asked this question. His friends asked this question.
Can these bones live? Can dead sinners live? Can men
without God come to know God? Can men who love darkness and
hate light, love light and hate darkness? Can men who love evil
and the paths of evil and the fruits of evil and the pleasures
of evil and the possessions and gain of evil, can they hate evil
and love holiness? Jeremiah asked that question.
He said can the Ethiopian change his skin? Can the leper change
his spot? Can you do good that are accustomed
to doing evil? The disciples asked that question.
They said, Lord, who can be saved? Who can be saved? Here stands
the prophet of God in the midst of a valley, surrounded by dead,
bleached, barren, dry bones. And God says, as he looks at
them, can they live? And we ask the same question
about the sinners to whom we preach. God says, can they live?
Can these dead sinners live? And we're not talking about somebody
with a religious enthusiasm and zeal going out there and wiring
these bones together with some ceremony and wiring them together
with some ritual and wiring them together with some tradition
and wiring them together with some kind of ordinances of religion,
you know, and making them mechanically get up and walk as we pull strings
to keep a puppet alive. God doesn't say, can they be
mechanically wired together? He says, can they live? Can they
live? Yes, they can be mechanically
wired together. And they can be dressed up to
look like me, dressed up in the robes of religion. And they can
be mechanically manipulated so that they'll look like they're
living. But God says, can they really live? Can life that is
gone come back? All right, here's the third thing
now, and the prophet's answer. The prophet's answer, he said,
Lord, you know, you know. Now, when God, preacher, realizes
the true condition of the people to whom he's ministering, their
true spiritual state, dead and trespassers and sick, when he
realizes what it is to be saved, It's life. It's a new life. It's
a new nature. It's a union with God. It's the
life of God coming within. It's spiritual life being restored. He restores my soul. It's just
like the devil being made an angel again. A fallen man being
made a son of God again. And so it's natural for him to
reply in this fashion as he considers himself. Well, I can't make them
live. No effort on my part can give
them life. Nothing that I say or do can
give life to dead sinners. I can't forgive sin. I can't
justify the ungodly I can't cover men with rogues of righteousness.
I can't do it and Lord. They can't make themselves live
Can you just imagine here this man standing here in that valley
of dry bones and God says can these bones live and he? Looks
at them and he realizes this he can't make them live and he
realizes something else. They can't make themselves live
They can't save themselves You can't born yourself, you can't
regenerate yourself, you can't recreate yourself, you can't
give yourself life, just as these bones cannot make themselves
live. But he gave the correct answer. The prophet looked up
toward heaven when God asked this question, can these bones
live? And he replied, Lord God, you
know, you know. And that's what our Lord said.
When the disciples said, well, who then can be saved? The Lord
Jesus replied, with men, it's impossible. It's impossible with
the church. It's impossible with preachers
and priests and cardinals and bishops and elders and deacons. It's impossible with men. With
men, salvation is impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. It took a miracle to put the
stars in place. It took a miracle to hang the
world in space. But when he saved my soul, cleansed
and made me whole, it took a miracle of God's love and God's grace. God can. With God it's possible. He can quicken those who are
dead and trespasses in sin. He can cause blind eyes to see
and deaf ears to hear and lame legs to walk. He can raise the
dead. Our Lord said, 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 it shall live."
One day, our Lord came there to the grave of Lazarus. Lazarus
had been dead for four days. And he said, roll away the stone.
And someone said, Lord, don't roll away the stone. By now,
his body is corrupted and smells. It has an odor about it. He said,
roll away the stone. And they rolled away the stone.
And he who has the power to give life, he who has the power to
restore life, He cried out, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus came
forth, and he was the only person on the scene that could give
Lazarus life. And I'm telling you this, as
I preach the gospel to dead sinners, I know in my heart nothing I
say will give them life, nothing I do can give them life, and
nothing they can do will give them life, and nothing their
parents can do will give them life. There's only one who can
give them life. the Son of God quickeneth whom
he will. And you who were dead in trespasses
and sin hath he quickened together with Christ. By grace are you
saved." All right, let's notice the next thing. First of all,
he showed me the valley, and God showed his preacher the condition
of his heroes. Then he said, can they live?
He presents the question, and this question is the question
that is on the mind of every true minister of the gospel.
Can these dead sinners live? Can these who hate righteousness
love righteousness? Can these who hate God love God?
And God says, can they live? And the prophet says, well, Lord,
you're the only one who knows. So the Lord tells him what to
do. What did he tell him to do? He said, preach to them. That's
right. He said, son of man, preach to
these dry bones. Son of man, say to them, O ye
dry bones, Hear the word of the Lord. Hear the word. The fourth lesson that God teaches
his preachers is the importance of preaching the gospel. The
importance of preaching the gospel. You know, Ezekiel must have thought,
that's a strange commandment. Here I am standing in the midst
of a valley full of dry bones, and God says they're going to
live, and he tells me to preach to them. Yes, to preach to them
the word of the Lord. And that's what God says to you
and me. He says, you go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every preacher. He that believeth and is baptized
shall live, shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Our Lord says, God hath chosen by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe. Paul said, I am not ashamed of
the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1.23,
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed,
the word of the living God. James wrote in James 1.18, of
his own will begat he us through the word of truth. It's the word
of God that gives me in life. It's the word of God that we
must preach. Now watch this. Notice that when
the prophet of God received his orders to preach, He didn't question
God's wisdom. He didn't question God's commandment.
He didn't question God's orders. He said, so I preach as I was
commanded. I did what God told me to do.
God told me to preach and therefore I preached. Now watch this. And
he preached what God told him to preach. He didn't go sit down
in the corner and try to figure out what he ought to say that
would have the most power on those bones, the most persuasive
power on those bones. He preached what God told him
to preach. What did God tell him to preach? You read carefully
verse 5 and 6. God did not tell him, the message
that Ezekiel preached was not some instruction as to what the
bones were supposed to do for God. But what he preached in
verse 5 and 6 was what God was going to do for the bones. That's
what he preached to them. Listen to it. He said, I preached
to them, and this is what I said. Behold, God will cause breath
to enter into you. Behold, God will lay sinners
upon you. Behold, God will put flesh on
you. Behold, God will cover you with
skin. Behold, God will put breath in
you. This is what he preached. He
preached what God was going to do for them. Not what they ought
to do for God. About all I hear today being
preached is what sinners ought to do for God. You ought to do
this and you ought to do that and you ought to do this. But
Paul said, I preach Christ and Him crucified. Paul's gospel
was the gospel concerning God's Son. It wasn't a gospel concerning
man's works and man's good deeds and man's righteousness and man's
professions and man's decisions. He preached Christ. He said we
preach Christ and Him crucified. I'm determined to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Paul came telling
men who Christ is. He came telling men what Christ
did. He came telling men why Christ
died on that cross. He came telling men where Christ
is now. That's what we're to preach.
But you'll find most sermons are taken up with what sinners
ought to do. What sinners ought to do. We
spend the whole time of our preaching telling men what they ought to
do, and bragging about what we've already done for God, and what
we're going to do for God, and what we're going to build for
God. And here this prophet of God told these bones what God
was going to do for them, and what God had done for them. He
said, Behold, I will lay sin upon you, I will bring a flesh
upon you, I will cause breath to enter into you, and I shall
make you live long. That's what he said. And I'm
saying that we need to revamp our message. We need to go forth
crying to this generation who God Almighty is, the God of creation,
the God of providence, the God of sovereignty. We need to go
forth crying out who Christ is, the representative, the surety
of the everlasting covenant. His blood is the blood of the
everlasting covenant. God Almighty will have mercy
upon whom he will have mercy. He will be gracious to whom he
will be gracious. God will raise men from spiritual
graves. God will put his spirit within
them. God will justify men and sanctify men and redeem men and
make them bond slaves of Jesus Christ. God will raise up a people
for Christ. Tell me what God is able to do.
You know, when they told Brian Bartimaeus about Jesus Christ,
I don't imagine they spent time telling Bartimaeus how he ought
to come to Christ. They were busy telling Bartimaeus
what Christ had done for other blind people. They said, well,
he healed this blind man and that blind man and the other
blind man, and he can heal you. And the same thing's true as
these other people who came to Christ to be healed of their
diseases. The people who told them about Christ told them that
Christ was able to make them whole. They didn't spend the
time telling them what they ought to do for the Lord. Now, what's
the result? In verse 10, I prophesied as
I was commanded. And the breath came into them,
and they lived, and they stood on their feet a very great army. Who raised them? God did. Who
gave them life? God did. Who gave them breath? God did. God did. And I'll tell you this, salvations
of the Lord. Only God can make a sinner live.
Only God can give a sinner life. Only God can raise a man from
a spiritual grave. Only God can give a man life
in Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you what I'd do,
my friend, if I were you. I'd look to God through Jesus
Christ, and I'd sue for mercy and peace and rest and the forgiveness
of sin through the merit of God Almighty's dear Son, who loved
us and gave himself for us. Have we learned this I know the
first application of this scripture is to Israel going back to their
land. But as I say, every Old Testament
picture dealing with Israel also deals with spiritual Israel.
And there's a picture here of the resurrection of dead sinners
from spiritual graves to live in Christ Jesus. And what God
is teaching us is the condition of every man out of Christ dead.
And the question comes, can dead men live? Can they be forgiven? Can they be pardoned? Can they
be given life? Can they be brought to God? And
our answer is, we can't do it, and they can't do it, but O Lord
God, thou art able. And so God says to us, preach
to them. I know the preaching of the cross is to them who are
perishing foolishness, but to us who are saved, it's the wisdom
of God, and it's the power of God, and it's the seed of life.
Christ is the Word, and the Word is the seed of life. So we preach.
God in his mercy and grace is pleased to beget life through
the word that we proclaim. I'm expecting him to bring forth
proof for the glory of his name.