We turn again this morning to the prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 37. Ezekiel chapter 37, We're going to read the entire chapter, but I want you to pay close attention to the first 14 verses. That will be our text. Ezekiel 37, verses 1 through 14. 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, 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 unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. 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. 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. 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. 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. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them and they lived and stood up upon their feet and exceeding the great army. then he said unto me son of man these bones are the whole house of Israel behold they say our bones are dry and our hope is lost we are cut off for our part Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves and shall put my spirit in you and ye shall live. And I shall place you in your own land then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it and performed it, saith the Lord. The word of the Lord came unto me again saying, moreover thou son of man, take thee one stick and write upon it, for Judah and for the children of Israel his companions. Then take another stick and write upon it, for Joseph the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions, and join them one to another into one stick, and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick. And they shall be one in mine hand, and the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all. And they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Neither shall they defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them. So shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd, They shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt. And they shall dwell therein, even they and their children and their children's children forever. And my servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them. Yea, I will be their God and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I, the Lord, do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore. There's a lot in that chapter. Could be taken for a series of sermons in itself. But we focus this morning on the first 14 verses of Ezekiel 37. And beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I preach to you children as well, It's evident from this text this morning that the Lord sometimes speaks very powerfully to us in pictures. And the picture set before us today, that which was given Ezekiel in vision by the Holy Spirit, is an amazing and attention-getting picture. From this very earthly picture of a valley of dry bones, human skeletons, an amazing spiritual reality is set before us. The Old Testament Scriptures are full of the riches of the gospel. They are full of the riches of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. As to the setting in this vision, in the previous chapter, Ezekiel had prophesied of the return of the children of Israel from the Babylonian captivity. God, the same God who had led them into captivity as a heavy chastisement of their iniquity and idolatry, that same God would deliver them and return them to their own land, the promised land, which you boys and girls remember was a picture of heaven, wasn't it? And he would do so, the prophet would proclaim in verses 22 and 23 of chapter 36, not for your sake, O house of Israel, But for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went, and I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them, and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. But Jehovah would give them that deliverance, not as they continued in their sin and idolatry, but in the way of a wonder work of his grace by which they would be made clean and filled with a holy desire to walk in the ways of the Lord. to the mind of the people, the possibility of that promise of God being fulfilled had to seem somewhat remote, even somewhat of a mystery. How would the Lord work and bring fulfillment to such an amazing promise? How would he bring salvation and restoration to a people who had wandered so far from his fellowship and his precepts? And the Lord answers that mystery by giving Ezekiel the amazing vision that's recorded in the first 14 verses of Ezekiel 37. The God of all power can transform and give life even to the dead. He who will later say by his son in John 3 verse 7, marvel not that I say unto thee ye must be born again, is indeed powerful to restore his people to life and to bring them into the promised land even when all hope appears lost. And he will do so by his own power through the instrumentality of preaching, even by Ezekiel's preaching, even by our preaching today. And to that truth, I call your attention this morning as we consider this amazing vision and its powerful revelation of truth under the theme, Dry Bones. The vision points us, first of all, to a sorry sight, secondly, to a quickening word, and finally, to a blessed hope. This vision of the Valley of Dry Bones points us to the sorry sight of the spiritual condition of the people of God, not just as they suffered in the captivity of Babylon, but the people of God in every age as they make their sojourn through this valley of the shadow of death. In a vision, the Spirit of God carried Ezekiel to a valley where he found the ground covered with bones. Human bones. Can you imagine that boys and girls? All of a sudden being placed in a valley where all around you the ground is covered with human bones. It wasn't a burying place, because bones are not left out in the open in a cemetery, are they? These bones being openly exposed revealed not only death, but it revealed the reproach of those who were represented here. And as God set his servant Ezekiel in the midst of that valley, he caused Ezekiel to take careful notice of those bones. He mustn't cover his eyes and turn up his nose at them. He must take note of them and see how many there were and carefully examined their condition. And so Ezekiel notes that not only were there an exceeding great number of bones, but that these bones were very dry. Death had consumed them. The power of death had removed from them all flesh all marrow, all life. It was evident to the prophet that years of death had exerted its power upon these bones so that their condition was that they were extremely fragile, dry, and brittle. Now the Lord did not leave Ezekiel to wonder to guess what was meant by these bones. He tells his servant in verse 11, son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, our bones are dry. Our hope is lost. We are cut off for our part. The church is represented by these dry bones. Now that's quite a picture when you think about it, isn't it? It isn't the world that is represented by these dry bones, although some of the elements of this picture would certainly apply to them. But it isn't the world of unbelieving and ungodly men who are pictured here. This sorry picture is that of the church. Those who are the people of God, the whole house of Israel. And their description is left not only to the horrible picture of the dry bones that cover the floor of that valley, But Jehovah himself describes them to his servant the prophet as to the reality of their spiritual condition. Now let's remember the immediate historical context, the reference points us to Israel's captivity in Babylon. For 70 years they were held captive. stripped of all that they had enjoyed in the land of Canaan. As Jeremiah would cry out in his lamentation, Lamentation 1 verse 10, the adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things. Jeremiah in his own prophecy in Jeremiah 50 verse 17 describes Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as having broken the bones of the Israelites. So the Jews were torn from the promised land, from the land of their life, and scattered across the valley of Babylon, the essence of the world of that day. But let's also understand, people of God, This sorry state that characterized the church of that day was a consequence of God's chastening hand upon them. The fruit of their own rejection of God's Word and their persistent walk in sin. The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death. You know that, don't you? There's no escaping that reality. And that had to be their own experience. But we must know that too. The wages of sin is death. Unspeakable misery and despair. Hopelessness. The Lord reminds Ezekiel, as we read in verse 11, that the house of Israel said, our bones are dry, our hope is lost, we are cut off for our parts. Do you know that confession? Such was the sorry state of the house of Israel. The long captivity in Babylon left them dry bones. All flesh and sinews and marrow had been consumed by the consequence of their sinful departure from Jehovah God, the Holy One of Israel. They thought they could walk their own way without consequence. They thought they could do their own thing and survive well. They thought they could serve God and self, God and other gods. And now they were suffering the wages of sin. And their bones lying uncovered in the valley. were exposed to the scorn and reproach of all who pass by. Look at that. Look at the church. The enemy could kick at them and mock them. Moreover, what escape is there from death? Even though Jeremiah had prophesied of deliverance to a remnant, to a penitent people of a contrite heart, they could see no possibility of restoration, no possibility of returning to the promised land. Captivity and bondage to death is an unbreakable bond. And so they said, our hope is lost. What a terrible thing to be without hope. Hope, you understand, is the life jacket in deep water, that which holds up a man when he no longer has the strength to tread the deep water. Hope is life in the face of death. These Israelites had lost their hope. We are cut off for our part. That's a figurative expression that was taken either from a branch of a tree being cut off from its life-giving trunk, or the whole tree being uprooted from the earth. In either case, they're cut off from life. no longer able to bear fruit, no longer having hope of recovery of its beauty and fruitfulness. And that was the case in Israel, who had been cut off from the land of their spiritual nourishment as branches cut off, as a tree fallen, never again to be planted. And in the face of this sorry sight, the Lord Jehovah asks his servant, the prophet, a very peculiar question. Ezekiel relates it in verse three. He said unto me, son of man, can these bones live? Mind you, there was no semblance of life in them. Son of man, can these bones live? And mind you, he's not asking a question about the general resurrection from the dead in the future. He's saying, Ezekiel, you've had a complete viewing now of this scene. You've taken it all in. You've seen what a sorry sight it is. You've seen the condition of these bones, so advanced in their death. Tell me now, what's your evaluation of them? Do you have any power as a prophet to give life unto them? Do you know any creature who can quicken them? Can these bones, these dry bones, stripped of all flesh and sinews and marrow, can these bones live? And Ezekiel answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. And that answer is sufficient for the Lord. Ezekiel could tell the condition of these bones. He could see the utter hopelessness of their condition. He knew as well that neither he nor any other person had power to give life to these bones that were in such an advanced state of death. And yet, as to the Lord's purpose, Ezekiel couldn't answer. O Lord God, Thou knowest. Thou who art Lord, Almighty, absolutely Sovereign, Thou whose name is Jehovah, faithful to fulfill the promises that Thou hast given Thy people, Thou art He who can do whatsoever Thou dost please. though neither myself nor any other creature could do it. Thy purpose and good pleasure is withheld from me concerning these bones. O Lord God, thou knowest." Ezekiel writes, verses four through six now, again, he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. 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 Jehovah. The peculiar question gave way to an astounding command of the Lord to his servants. Ezekiel prophesy upon these bones. You understand that if Ezekiel had measured the Lord's words by the rules of human wisdom or resolved to preach only what he himself could comprehend by way of his own intellect and thinking and reason? He would have said, now Lord, what possible purpose could there be in that? I would make a fool of myself to stand before these dry bones and to preach to them? Ezekiel didn't respond that way, did he? There was no such reaction in Ezekiel. A true minister of God believes God's word and follows it. He's a servant of the great king, sent forth to do his will. Can you imagine what the people would have said If they had seen Ezekiel preaching to these bones, how they would have mocked him? Some perhaps would have pitied him, thought he was one afflicted with a serious mental illness. Most would have laughed at his folly and made him the byline of their jokes. The man who preaches to the dead, and truth be told, I would receive the same reaction when I stand before you and preach to you. The world's reaction is, The foolishness of it. The foolishness of preaching. The Lord God has given His calling to His, every one of His servants. And we're called to preach to dry bones. As Ezekiel of old We're placed in the valley of this world which is filled with the parched bones of dead sinners, those who are powerless and unable to do anything toward attaining their own salvation. And we are told, prophesy upon these bones. It's God's purpose to raise dead sinners to life by the preaching of His Word. These dry bones are brought to life by a quickening Word. Now, it's not the mere Word of a man. who brings those bones to life is it is emphatically the Word of Jehovah God. Even now the Word become flesh. If you were to think that your minister or any visiting minister is going to make a difference here. If I were to think that by my limited gifts and by my labors and my preaching, souls will be awakened and we, if that were to be our perspective, we would all come to sore dissatisfaction. not one good thing can come from this ministry if we do not look beyond ourselves and keep our eyes focused on him who alone has power to bring life out of death. I stand before you even today as Ezekiel had to stand before the children of Israel and say thus saith the Lord hear the word of the Lord Jehovah not by power nor by might but by my spirit saith Jehovah of hosts Zechariah 4 verse 6 when I can testify with the Apostle Paul in 1st Thessalonians 2 verse 13 and say, for this cause thank we God without ceasing. Because when ye receive the word of God which he heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God which effectually worketh in you that believe, then we may rejoice together over God's powerful divine work in our midst. Because His work, the work of the Holy Spirit, is that for which we seek. He alone is the one who's able to bring dry bones to life. And his word confirms this truth. Because Ezekiel is to speak to those bones the word of Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord God, God is in all caps here, so it's the Lord Almighty Jehovah, Thus saith the Almighty Jehovah unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you. I will do all these things. and ye shall live and know that I am Jehovah. So says the Lord Jehovah. That the prophet, Ezekiel, that a minister of God should preach to people void of life in themselves seems like an absurd thing. No wonder that the preaching is considered foolishness. From an earthly perspective, that's exactly what it is. That I should preach to dry bones, myself included, is foolishness from every earthly point of view. It's as if God would call a man to preach to a pile of stones or a pile of wood chips. But even though those dry bones were incapable of hearing Ezekiel's voice, and even though it was impossible that they should respond to his words, when the Almighty God should speak through His servant, even the most senseless creatures are rendered by the power of His grace to hear His voice and to follow Him. The Lord intended that these dry bones should come to life and that they might live. He will send forth His Word, His powerful, creative, life-giving Word, and He will work His own wonder work of sovereign, particular, and irresistible grace. Don't overlook the fact those bones are very dry. There isn't even the sinew of free will left upon them. No man is able to move them. But as God breathes upon them by his spirit, these dry bones will come to life and become an exceeding great army. an army which follows the captain of their salvation to the praise of the glory of his grace. So the Lord promises, behold I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live So in this vision, Ezekiel is given to see this powerful and life-giving operation of God giving life to this multitude of dry bones. As one sent by Jehovah, Ezekiel preached. He prophesied as he was commanded without regard to what others would think regardless of the apparent futility of his labors. He preached. And what happened, boys and girls, when Ezekiel preached to all those dry bones? Listen. 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 and when I beheld lo the sinews and flesh came up upon them and the skin covered them above but there was no breath in them 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. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceeding great army. Look at that scene, that sorry sight, all those dry bones covering the ground of this whole valley, a picture of the church of God in this world, and such were you and I, and such are we by nature, and such are some even today. Why does God call preachers and place them in a particular place at a given time, the place of His calling? There's only one way to answer that question, and it has not to do with fruits. We know not what God's purposes are from that point of view. When I stand in the midst of a valley of dry bones, I can only say with Ezekiel, O Lord God, thou knowest. Why has God called me to the ministry? He's called me to preach His Word. And as with Ezekiel, also with me, He holds me accountable for the Word that I preach. But look at all those dry bones. Ezekiel prophesied as he was commanded. He was faithful to the calling God had given him. And what did he see? It was astounding. There was a noise and behold bones began to rattle and shake. Moving as if live. And because there were so many bones, it was quite a sight. Their shaking was a shaking by divine power. And the bones came together, bone to his bone. Every bone came together in exactly the proper place. The femur, the leg bone, didn't attach itself to the skull. The hand didn't attach itself to the leg. Each in his or her own proper place in the body. Don't forget, the bones are the strength and support of the whole body. they must each occupy their proper place if the body is going to maintain its strength. Even those who before were enemies or who lived at sinful odds with each other are brought into the unity of Christ's fellowship and life by the divine power of the word preached the very power of God unto salvation as we read in Romans 1 verse 16. Those bones are shaken from their false and deceitful hopes, from their bondage in the mire of sin. They're shaken out of death into God's marvelous light. Moreover, Ezekiel sees the sinews and flesh and skin cover those bones so that they are clothed with all that is necessary for their proper function. But there must still be more. The coming together of those bones and the covering of the sinews and marrow and flesh and skin must not just provide a lifeless statue. There must indeed be life given by the breath of God, the Holy Spirit, because He alone gives life to the dead. Jesus said in John 3 verse 8, The wind bloweth where it listeth, where it pleases. And thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit." This life is ours, you understand, by Him who is the Word of life. Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the Word of God. He is the one in whom alone is salvation. He is our salvation because He entered the valley of these dry bones and suffered the wages of sin. Not His own sin, for He had none, but for our sin as He took our place before God. And because Jehovah who has chosen His own from eternity in Christ, also looks upon us in His own dear Son. He gives us the life of Christ, uniting us together with Him. And He alone can give us that life. And He does by the operation of His Holy Spirit through the Word. That awareness ought to drive us all to our knees in prayer, beloved. We all understand, of course, that there are those in our midst, and especially in the time of youth, who make very destructive choices and wander far from the path of the Lord. There are those even now who walk in unrighteousness, who bring pain and sorrow to our souls. But we must also understand and not forget that every one of us is characterized by those dry bones. Every one of us by nature is dead in trespasses and sin, and in constant need of being called to repentance, of having our spiritual beings restored to life and strength, of being directed to Christ by faith. And it ought to be our prayer, therefore, not only that your pastor, the minister sent by God, be given grace to open his mouth boldly as he ought to speak and to make known the mystery of the gospel in faithfulness. But it must be our humble prayer that God's saving power accompany that word preached in our midst. It must be our prayer that the Holy Spirit apply the word to our hearts and lives. Then we may pray and hear with a blessed hope. Our blessed hope is in Jehovah, the faithful God who performs his word and quickens the dead according to his sovereign good pleasure. Your confidence must not be in any minister. Any more than my confidence may be in myself and in my limited abilities. Our confidence will not rest upon psychological techniques applied in the preaching nor oratory or style. Indeed, the instrument that God will use will always be seen as a weak man, dreadfully weak. Our confidence will not rest in gimmicks, nor fostering entertainment in worship. as if quickening the dead could take place by setting a giant television screen in front of their graves and showing an exciting basketball game or a throbbing music video. But recognizing our plight as dry bones and the hopelessness of all human techniques and schemes of men, this preacher shall be compelled carefully and plainly and boldly to preach exactly what the Lord God Himself says through His Word, the Holy Scripture. And you and I are compelled carefully and attentively and humbly to hear that Word preached, the Word of the Gospel. And hearing that Word, not merely the Word of a minister, but the Word of the living God, sinners who see their hopeless condition will be compelled by the life-giving Spirit to cast themselves upon the Lord rather than relying upon themselves for their own salvation. No following four easy steps laid out by super salesman evangelists or preachers will make sinners like you and me live again. Only God, working sovereignly and powerfully through a faithful messenger sent by Him, will raise the dead to life. So the only hope for a preacher, and the only hope for sinners to whom he preaches, including himself, is in the Lord Jehovah. Jesus Christ the righteous don't you see beloved what a powerful hope we have the Lord Jehovah who is powerful to save is our hope Paul gives essentially the same instruction to Timothy in 2nd Timothy 2 verses 24 through 26 in the midst of setting forth Timothy's primary calling as a pastor. And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if per adventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will. Notice, if God per adventure will give them repentance. That's hard for us sometimes. Because we like to be men and women of results. And when we see those walking astray, and we so quickly overlook our own sins, we want to see immediate change. Now, let's not forget the calling God gives us toward those who are taken captive by the snares of the devil. We grieve the Holy Spirit if we merely ignore such and hope that somehow they'll return. God uses means. Don't reject the means appointed by God. But listen to this. if God, per adventure, will give them repentance. We don't bring forth the fruits. The Holy Spirit alone can do that work. But that's a tremendous hope for the church and for God's servants. If God will give You see, that's an infinitely brighter hope and expectation than, if only I can get through to them, or if only the dead will open their eyes and start breathing again. Because God is powerful to save those who are His, including you and me. And as Ezekiel was given to see this power of God, he saw those dry bones rise up unto life so that they stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Instead of dry bones, God raised up an exceeding great army, a multitude beyond number sent forth to do the will of their great king. What a blessed promise. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land. Then shall ye know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, saith the Lord. as a servant called by God to prophesy upon these bones, to serve in the midst of a congregation, or, as I have the calling now, in the midst of the churches, I shall, as God gives me health and strength, proclaim His Word in the confident zeal that he who raises the dead goes with me. And you and I who are sinners will find ourselves beneath the cross beseeching God for the salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Gracious Father, we give thanks to Thee for the power of Thy Word, calling sinners from darkness to light, from death to life, and taking us into the fellowship of Thy life and love. And we thank Thee that as we hear the word preached, and as those called to preach that word, We may do so in the confidence that thou art he who works by that word in our hearts and lives. To thy name's honor and glory, for Jesus' sake, amen. Psalter number 241. My song forever shall record the tender mercies of the Lord. We sing the first five stanzas, 1 through 5, 241. The sun forever shall be born, the tender mercies of the Lord. And faithfulness will I proclaim, and every age shall Sweet Virgin, Lord, Forever well, Forever true, For He has reigned, for He has reigned. To praise thy wondrous works, O Lord. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? The Almighty One, Jehovah, God of Israel, for He alone has won. his glorious name, long as the ages shall endure, for all the earth extend his fame, amen, amen, forevermore. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.