By Ronald E.
George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church
Some may argue that this passage applies especially to
the Hebrews of Ezekiel’s day and should not be used to describe the people
of the Lord today. But, I ask
you. Is this the same God that we
serve? Is there anything new
under the sun? Do the people who
were once alive appear to be dead? Does
the church at times look like a graveyard full of dead, dried up bones?
Does there need to be a revival in the church? Those who would say that the church has been revived need to
look around at the thousands of people who don’t care about the church or
the Lord. If the church was alive
and doing well, then why are there so many who are indifferent? The church has grown cold and ineffective in reaching the
lost. We continue to try to reach
people of the 21st century in methods of ministry that were
established in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s.
Wake up and live dead and dried up bones. It is time to see a mass resurrection of churches that hear
the word of God through the preacher. It
is time to come alive. Preach to
those bones.
Scripture
Text:
Ezekiel 37:1 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, 2 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. 3 And he said
unto me, Son of man, can these bones
live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me,
Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of
the LORD. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause
breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 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 ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 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. 8 And when I
beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered
them above: but there was no breath in them.
9 Then said he 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 slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he
commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon
their feet, an exceeding great army.
A.
How do you know that there is a need for revival?
There appears to have once been live there, but now…
1.
All activity has ceased. There is a noticeable lack of normal
reflexes.
2.
A coldness has crept in. No warmth, love, or compassion.
3.
A sudden loss of contact with the living world.
Begins to be noticeably missing from the presence of those who are
living.
4.
No breathing is noticeable. No breath is now present, which is symbolic of the
presence of the Lord. This
condition is especially noticeable when we just begin to go through the
motions.
5.
A stink of corruption is present.
6.
There is no interaction. There is no interest in the living
activities
7.
The jobs that were once completed now go undone.
B.
God asks, “Can these bones live?”
Can there be a revival?
Can there be a revival in the church today?
Can those who say they are the people of the Lord once again come to
life? The main requirement for a revival is that the Lord must begin to work.
The Lord can do anything. He
can cause the blind to see, the dumb to talk, the lame to walk, and the dead
to live. Would you ask that
question today and begin to look at your church with the eyes of the Lord? What do you see? Can
you see the way things could be?
C.
God says to preach to these bones.
Why should you preach to the dead?
Because that was what God said to do.
They needed to hear the word of God.
There is hope when there is God. When
the word of God is preached it will have an effect upon the listeners.
They can then come alive. Are
we preaching the word? Are we
living the word? Are people
hearing and seeing the message of the Lord lived out in our lives?
When the word of the Lord is given then life from the Lord will spring
forth. Plant those seeds. Have we been planning? Are
you involved in planting those seeds?
Have you heard of the hard-shell or primitive Baptists?
At one time these primitive Baptist’s were very prominent in our
area. They believed in Hyper-Calvinism. Simply
put they believed that those who were going to be saved were predestined, so
then they didn’t believe that they needed to do anything to spread the word.
They didn’t believe in missionaries and reaching out to the
community. Consequently the Primitive are almost all gone.
Friends, when we quit preaching and reaching out with the gospel then
eventually we will no longer exist. Those
dead bones can’t rise without the word.
The word is representative of the water in this story of the valley of
dry bones. There was no water.
There was no word. The people who had the water and the word failed to pipe it
into the people, so they died. These
bones would have never lived if Ezekiel had not obeyed the Lord and preached
to a whole valley of dead bones. Will
we preach and reach out to those in the valley of dry bones.
They are dead and they need to be revived.
The Word of God is the water that people need to come alive in their
lives for all eternity. Will we
be a pipe for the Lord?
D.
God says to pray that the Spirit will come again.
Will we pray for the Spirit to come?
Do you want Him to come? Then
will you pray that He will come once again into you and then into your church?
If you want to see a revival are you ready to allow the Lord to revive
you? If you are ready to be
revived then you will see a revival? Come
to pray.
Pray like the young mother who prayed for her husband who was
pronounced dead. Pray that there
would be a resurrection of the church so that people would once again be alive
to God. Pray that the wind would
blow and the Spirit would come again into those who appear to be dead.