THE DEAD COME ALIVE WITH THE WORD
Ezekiel 37:1-14
GOD’S PLAN OF RESTORATION
V:1. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, \”Son of man, can these bones live?\”
I said, \”O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.\”
- We need to live a life that is pleasing to God so that He can call on us
At any time to serve.
- When we are constantly in prayer, we have the ear of God.
- Because we are communicating with Him, He will communicate
With us.
- Because God is spirit, we must pray in the spirit.
- It is good for us to know that God has much for us to do that we
Cannot imagine.
- It is good to know just because a thing has not been done before,
that God is able to do what He wants.
- At one time we were all dry bones.
- We live in a valley of dry bones.
- Any person that doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus is a dry bone.
- It is the spirit that comes through a relationship with Jesus
That becomes living water in our bones.
- Only God knows who He will call out of darkness into the
Marvelous light of eternal life.
- Because we live in the spirit, we cannot judge others who have no
Evidence of God’s spirit.
- We have no idea who God has called out of darkness, that we
See no evidence of light.
- God may have taken someone in the valley, so they can have a
Valley testimony.
- The man born blind had a blind testimony.
- The woman with the issue of blood had a blood testimony.
- The man born lame had a lame testimony.
- Our testimonies are what God gives us to bless others.
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD
V:4. Then he said to me, \”Prophesy to these bones and say to them, \’Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.\’\”
- Jesus left us with the great commission, to proclaim the good news
Making disciples, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit.
- Israel turned away from God and worshipped idol gods.
- Their disobedience is the reason they became like dry bones.
- They became dry because they refused to hear the Word of
The Lord.
- Generations earlier, God made a promise to David that Israel would
Not be left without King on the throne.
- Our disobedience does not change God’s promises.
- Our disobedience affects us individually, but it does not
Change God’s corporate plan.
- Those who lack Jesus, lack the spirit of the Lord
- God justly chastises us, but His mercy provides our
Restoration.
Romans 11:25-26
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written.
- When we look at where we have come from, we know
The Lord was on our side.
THE WORD OF GOD STIRS UP OUR MINDS
V:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
- The Word of God stirs up the soul so we come into agreement with
God’s commands.
- When we are disobedient, we are at war with ourselves.
Ephesians 6:12-13
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
- Only the Word of God can bring us into obedience and thus peace
In our souls
- We were born naked. But the Word of God clothes us in the righteousness of God.
- The first step in our restoration is to accept Christ as atonement for our sins.
- Growth does not begin until we put the Word of God in practice.
- We began our salvation with no evidence of spiritual life.
- While the new man has come alive we have yet to live for
Christ until we make up our minds to be a servant.
THE WORD OF GOD PROMOTES OBEDIENCE AND SERVICE
V:9 Then he said to me, \”Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, \’This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.\’\” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army.
- It is the spiritual work in us that gradually molds us into a soldier for
Christ.
- We have to learn to wear the armor of Christ.
- First, we have to learn the weapons of spiritual
Warfare.
Ephesians 6:13-18
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- You cannot be effective with weapons of God until you have been trained In their use.
- It is the study and the meditation of the Word that prepares us to
Use the spiritual weapons of war.
- Having the knowledge of the weapons of war is nothing without
Field training and actual combat.
- God provides us with circumstances that put us in combat with
Weapons of the Word.
- The church becomes an active army for Christ when we get active
Serving God.
THE COVERING OF GOD’S MERCY
V:11 Then he said to me: \”Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, \’Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.\’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: \’This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
D. Israel was undergoing seventy years of Babylonian captivity,
Because of their continued disobedience and worship of idol gods.
- Jerusalem had been destroyed. The temple had been burnt to
The ground.
- Israel was in a dry place.
- They were aliens in a foreign country and not able to worship
The God they rejected in Israel.
- The God we serve is merciful and filled with compassion.
- After the planned period of chastisement, God promised
And did release Israel back to the promised land.
- Here, God gives us a lesson in training our children.
We should discipline them with a firm hand, but afterward
Encourage them with love and a promise of good graces.
- We should never end discipline without a word of comfort
And direction.
- Our children need to know that discipline is a sign of love,
Proverbs 13:24
He who spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
- God’s plan for our lives includes our sin, discipline and
Restoration.
GOD CONFIRMS HIS PLAN WITH OUR REDEMPTION
V:13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.\’\”
- The Word of God contains the truth about our lives from start to
Finish.
- God knows the beginning, the end, and everything in between.
- God knew from the beginning that at some point in our lives we
Would reject Him and follow after the world.
- God’s plan of redemption included allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sins.
- At no time in our sin are we ever out of God’s control.
He awaits the time when He brings us to our right minds and
Return to Him.
Luke 15:17-20
\”When he came to his senses, he said, \’How many of my father\’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.\’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
- Suffering the consequences of our sins is one of God’s ways of drawing us back to himself.
- According to Ephesians 1:4, we were chosen in Christ before the
Foundation of the earth.
Since God cannot fail, our return to the right standings is part of
His plan.
The Grace of God is abundant and His mercy endures forever.
NI
