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."
A. We need to live a life that is
pleasing to God so that He can call on us
At any time to serve.
1. When we are constantly in prayer, we
have the ear of God.
2. Because we are communicating with Him,
He will communicate
With us.
3. Because God is spirit, we must pray
in the spirit.
B. It is good for us to know that God
has much for us to do that we
Cannot imagine.
1. It is good to know just because a
thing has not been done before,
that God is able to do what He wants.
2. At one time we were all dry bones.
3. We live in a valley of dry bones.
4. Any person that doesn’t have a
relationship with Jesus is a dry bone.
5. It is the spirit that comes through a
relationship with Jesus
That becomes living
water in our bones.
C. Only God knows who He will call out
of darkness into the
Marvelous light of eternal life.
1. Because we live in the spirit, we cannot
judge others who have no
Evidence of God’s
spirit.
2. We have no idea who God has called
out of darkness, that we
See no evidence of
light.
3. God may have taken someone in the
valley, so they can have a
Valley testimony.
4. The man born blind had a blind
testimony.
5. The woman with the issue of blood had
a blood testimony.
6. The man born lame had a lame
testimony.
7. 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.'"
A. 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.
1. Israel turned away from God and
worshipped idol gods.
2. Their disobedience is the reason they
became like dry bones.
3. They became dry because they refused
to hear the Word of
The Lord.
B. Generations earlier, God made a
promise to David that Israel would
Not be left without King on the throne.
1. Our disobedience does not change God’s
promises.
2. Our disobedience affects us
individually, but it does not
Change God’s corporate
plan.
C. Those who lack Jesus, lack the spirit
of the Lord
1. 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.
2. 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.
A. The Word of God stirs up the soul so
we come into agreement with
God’s commands.
1. 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.
2. Only the Word of God can bring us into obedience and thus peace
In our souls
B. We were born naked. But the Word of
God clothes us in the righteousness of God.
1. The first step in our restoration is
to accept Christ as atonement for our sins.
2. Growth does not begin until we put the
Word of God in practice.
3. We began our salvation with no
evidence of spiritual life.
4. 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.
A. It is the spiritual work in us that
gradually molds us into a soldier for
Christ.
1. We have to learn to wear the armor of
Christ.
2. 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.
B. You cannot be effective with weapons
of God until you have been trained In their use.
1. It is the study and the meditation of
the Word that prepares us to
Use the spiritual
weapons of war.
2. Having the knowledge of the weapons
of war is nothing without
Field training and actual
combat.
3. God provides us with circumstances
that put us in combat with
Weapons of the Word.
C. 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.
1. Jerusalem had been destroyed. The temple
had been burnt to
The ground.
2. Israel was in a dry place.
3. They were aliens in a foreign country
and not able to worship
The God they rejected
in Israel.
D. The God we serve is merciful and filled
with compassion.
1. After the planned period of chastisement,
God promised
And did release Israel
back to the promised land.
2. 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.
3. We should never end discipline without
a word of comfort
And direction.
4. 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.
5. 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.'"
A. The Word of God contains the truth
about our lives from start to
Finish.
1. God knows the beginning, the end, and
everything in between.
2. God knew from the beginning that at
some point in our lives we
Would reject Him and
follow after the world.
3. God’s plan of redemption included
allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sins.
4. 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.
5. Suffering the consequences of our
sins is one of God’s ways of drawing us back to himself.
6. 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
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