Text: Ezekiel 37:1-12
Proposition: What bones can live again?
Introduction
The nation of Israel was a valley of dry bones. Their capital city Jerusalem had been destroyed. The walls were broken down, and the temple was destroyed. Their land was desolate. Most of the people had been taken from their land and were living in Babylon. They were in captivity for 70 years. Many of the people were heartbroken about their nation. Jeremiah wrote a complete book of the Bible lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem, the book of Lamentations.
Lamentations 1:1, the great city was like a forced laborer. Many times, when other people conquer people, those who were educated influential people become common labor. The people who conquered them don’t care what they know or who they were many times. To go from a princess to a slave is a drastic change. Lamentations 1:16, says the city has eyes full of water. She is crying for her people.
Lamentations 2:5, there is moaning and mourning.
Lamentations 2:11-13, Jeremiah can’t even see because of his tears.
Lamentations 4:1-10, Being conquered by another nation leaves behind poor starving people. Families are split up. Conquering nations don’t consider the emotions and feelings of those they conquer. In WWII the Germans separated families. Luba Tryszynska was in a concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen. The Germans loaded her, her husband, and her two-year-old son one a train. When the train arrived at the destination. They tore her son from her arms and separated her and her husband. That was the last time she ever saw either of them. Fifty years after the War was over she did find some people who were related through her grandfather. The first night she was in the concentration camp she heard children crying. She woke up one of the other ladies and asked her if she heard it. She said, “No, you are just hearing things. Go back to sleep.” Luba couldn’t go back to sleep, she could still hear them. She got out of bed and walked out into the cold night. She followed the sound and found 54 children. Their fathers were diamond cutters. The Germans wanted their fathers to work for them, but didn’t want the children. The soldiers had been ordered to shoot the children, but one of the men refused. The men argued and finally decided to leave the children out in the cold to die. Luba brought them back to the barracks. The children lived in the barracks for 5 months until the end of the war. Luba worked as a nurse in the concentration camp. She managed to scrounge up enough food to feed the children.
Think of what it would be like if our country was conquered. Right now this seems almost impossible. There is no other country capable of conquering the United States. Right now we are superior to any other country militarily and economically. Most countries don’t have enough ships of airplanes to get their troops here. Economically the United States is superior. I think we are slipping from our position, but the dollar is the world currency. Foreign countries hold billions of US dollars. Even if it seems impossible try to imagine what it would be like to lose your house, your entire bank account, your automobiles, and all your possessions. All you have are the clothes on your back. Not only you, but everyone you know is the same predicament. Washington DC is destroyed. The White House is gone. The Capital building is gone. The Pentagon is gone. Every major city is in ruins. Many of the people around you are scattered all over the world. Some are in Mexico, some in Canada, some in China, some in Iran and some in Brazil. There isn’t enough food. If your children are alive, they are crying because they are hungry. This is hard for us to imagine, but it still happens all over the world today. After WWII this was the condition of most of Europe. This was the situation for Israel only worse.
The nation of Israel was dead. So dead they were a bunch of dried up bones.
But God brought them back to life again.
Sometimes we may be a bunch of dried up bones, but God can make us live again.
I. Dead bones of the church
II. He can make our dried up bones live again.
III. He can make spiritually dead live again
I. Dead bones of the church (How do we know the church can live again?)
A. Sometimes churches are dead.
1. Revelation 3:1-2, the church at Sardis was dead. They were like the nation of Israel. Israel was dead before Nebuchadnezzar arrived. They were full of sin. Sin makes people dead to God, Habakkuk 1:1-6. The Chaldeans were just the vultures that came to eat what was dead. When an animal dies it attracts the buzzards, coyotes, and flies. This was Israel they were dead. Their stench attracted conquerors. Because they were dead they could not defend themselves and they were eaten by the Chaldeans. By Ezekiel’s time they were so dead they didn’t stink anymore they were just a valley of dead dried up bones.
2. The church at Sardis was dead. They needed to have life brought back into them. They needed to repent of their sin.
3. The church as a whole looks like it is dying. Many churches tolerate sin. They don’t care if the people in them are homosexuals, fornicators, adulterers, and many other sinners. We are to leave sin behind and not let it spread in the church.
4. We see in the news many people hate Christianity. They want it out of the schools and every public place.
5. During the dark ages the church seemed like it was dead. The Catholic Church persecuted, killed and oppressed all whom wanted to live as Christians. For over a thousand years the people of God were held captive. Living during that time would be discouraging. It would seem like God had forsaken his church. There were people during this time who were Christians. Then Martin Luther nailed his 95 these do the door of the Castle Church. The Reformation began. After this many began to worship more freely. Later Napoleon destroyed most of the power of the Catholic Church. God can give life to his church and make it live again.
B. Jesus promised His church would never be overpowered
1. Matthew 16:16-18, Christ’s Church will never be overpowered. This is a great promise. From the very beginning Satan has tried to destroy the Church. The apostles were beaten and thrown in jail. James was beheaded. In Revelation 20:7-10 Satan is still trying to destroy the church. God tells us he will not be successful. He will be thrown into the lake of fire.
2. We may worry about the church where we are attending. Will it continue to live? We know sometimes churches have the doors locked and nobody attends there anymore. That is discouraging. The church building in North Platte was in this situation. The doors were locked and nobody attended there anymore. When I was eight years old we moved there. My dad preached to our family on Sunday. One other man did move there shortly after we did. His children came later. For quite a while it was just us. At the time I never gave it much thought, but now I wonder how my Dad kept from getting discouraged and quitting, or moving someplace where there was a bigger church. I know he had to depend on the Father and have faith like Ezekiel that dry bones could live again. Sometimes we may wonder what does the future hold for the church at Lexington. I don’t know the future like Ezekiel, but the Lord does. The Lord knew that the dry bones could live again. It doesn’t matter how bleak the future looks to us God knows there is victory in the end.
II. He can make our dried up bones live again. (How do we know he can make the dead live again?)
A. By faith
1. II Corinthians 4:12-5:9, our bodies give us trouble, even more so the older we get. Someday our bodies will die our bones will be all that is left of us. But at the resurrection our bodies will be resurrected and changed to an immortal body.
2. I Corinthians 15:50-54
B. Jesus resurrected
1. I Corinthians 15:1-8, Jesus resurrected. Many witnessed his resurrection. The tomb was empty. No one could deny that the tomb was empty all they could say was that somebody stole his body.
2. Because Jesus resurrected we know that he can resurrect us also. He will give us eternal life.
III. He can make the bones of the spiritually dead live again (How do the spiritually dead live again?)
A. They hear the voice of the Son of God.
1. John 5:25-29, there is no way to come to life unless you hear his words. His words are recorded in the scriptures.
2. John 6:63, Jesus words give life. They tell us what we need to know to have life.
3. John 8:51-52, if we keep his words we will never see death.
B. They have believed in his Son
1. John 8:24, if we don’t believe we will remain dead dried up bones.
2. John 3:16, if we do believe we have everlasting life.
C. Be raised at baptism
1. Colossians 2:11-13
2. We are raised up at baptism. We are no longer a dead stinking creature. We are in Christ we walk in a new life. We are a new creature.
3. Our dead bones have come to life.
Conclusion
The dry bones live again we. God can make dead dry bones live again by the word of his mouth. The prophesying of Ezekiel brought life to the bones. God’s word brings life.
The word of God can bring life to a dead church. Jesus promised his church would never be overpowered. His church will last forever.
God can bring our dead bones back to life. We know by faith we will live again. Jesus resurrected to die never again. We will also resurrect to eternal life.
God gives life to dead bones spiritually. We hear his words and we come to life. We believe in him and we come to life. At baptism we are resurrected to walk in a new life.
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