Can These Dry Bones Live?

It seems funny for me to start talking about droughts at the start of a service

when we've had a week of rain like we've had.

So it certainly rained this week, hasn't it? So, and obviously we think of people

on the mid-north coast in the Hunter region.

And someone mentioned to me this morning, five dead this morning and then still

people missing. So it's terrible, but yeah, let's pray for them right now, Lord.

Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Lord, we thank you. We thank you,

Lord God, that you are a God of faith, Lord God.

You are a God of salvation, Lord. You are a God of miracles,

Lord God. You are a God of the weather, Lord God.

And Father, we pray right now that, Lord, for the people on the mid-north coast,

Lord, for the Hunter region, all those people that are suffering and subject

of this flood up there, Lord God, and the rain we've had down here,

Lord, I pray for protection, Lord. I pray for safety, Lord.

I pray for an easing of the flood right now in Jesus' name.

Lord, Jesus himself said, speak to the storm. So we speak to the storm right

now and command in Jesus' name that you would calm, that there would be calm

and there would be safety and there would be protection in Jesus' name.

Touch the families who have lost, Lord God.

Be with them. Comfort them, Lord God. and only the way that you know how, Lord God.

Restoration in their lives is what we pray for right now. In Jesus' name,

hallelujah. Amen. All right.

So drought, like I said, strange to be talking about drought,

but correct me if I'm wrong, but at some point in time, all of us have been

subject to a drought, whether it be physical, whether it be personal,

whether it be emotional,

whether it be spiritual.

We've all had a season of drought Everywhere we look perhaps in our lives All

we see sometimes is what used to be alive And what is now dead And for some of us,

it's actually a good thing That some things in our past are now dead and behind

us But perhaps for the rest of us We're still mourning what may have been lost to us Amen?

We have people around us for whatever reason who might be saying to us,

just let it go. Just let it go.

Move on with your life. There's no turning back for us as far as that issue is concerned.

But I'm here to tell you this morning that if it was a good thing that you've

lost in your life, that God is saying otherwise. Otherwise, God is saying,

I'm going to do quite a bit of prophesying this morning.

I'm going to speak the word of God out over us.

So as I do that, I want you just to think perhaps of the things that have been

lost and that are still hurting you.

You know, I'm going to go through a list of things in a little while,

you know, some of my own personal losses and problems in my life.

But what I want to do this morning is prophesy because God says otherwise.

Who agrees with that? God says otherwise. There are things in our lives that

we've lost that appear dead to us, but God is far from done with them.

God is far from done with them. We've lost all hope in getting back what we've lost.

We've lost all faith that perhaps dry bones can ever live again.

We've lost all hope that what we have

lost will never come again or never never

never come back again perhaps we believe in the notion it's too late you know

perhaps we believe in the notion that perhaps we've burnt the bridge beyond

all repair and there's just no going back or perhaps we believe in the notion

that it's probably better off this way.

I've got two words that should bring some encouragement to you this morning.

Two words that should bring you some encouragement. And those two words are, but God.

But God. But God. Now, we all should get excited about those two words, but God.

Because no matter what we're missing, no matter what we've lost,

no matter the hurt, no matter the pain that we may be even still going through, but God. But God.

But God has said in his word that he will give you beauty for ashes,

He said in his word that the weeping may endure for the night But joy,

but joy will be here in the morning I wish I had a believer in the house this morning Come on,

but God, but God Some of you have given up all hope perhaps That what you have

lost will never come back again Some of you have given up all hope that there

is still the possibility of resurrection,

Some of you may have given up hope of ever getting back what you have lost and

mourn over even to this day But God, but God,

but God How many of you know that when God comes on the scene.

Even though what you have lost may seem dead and lifeless to you,

can still come alive and be made whole. It can.

How many of you know that when God comes on the scene, there is no such thing as impossible to him?

Come on. That's better. Come on. Now I'm going to speak the word of God.

I'm going to preach this morning from Ezekiel. Who loves Ezekiel?

I'm going to preach from there this morning, Ezekiel 37. I've done this more

than once, more than once, probably every few months I preach on Ezekiel because I love it.

There is so much faith that comes from Ezekiel. Isn't there, Anne?

Come on. Anne's taking home the testimony book this week and filling it, and filling it.

Aren't you, Anne? You've got plenty to put in there. So, all right,

let's read from Ezekiel.

It's a long passage, but it's also the only one that I'm going to read this morning.

I'm going to refer to a lot more, but this is the only one I'm going to read out in this entirety.

Ezekiel 37 verses 1 to 14. Just let this rest in your soul right now,

Ezekiel 37:1–14

because it is well with us.

The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to

a valley filled with bones.

He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor.

They were scattered everywhere, across the ground, and were completely dried out.

Then he asked me, Son of man, can these bones become living people again?

O Sovereign Lord, I replied, you alone know the answer to that.

Then he said to me Speak a prophetic message.

To these bones And say dry bones Listen to

the word of the Lord This is what the sovereign Lord says

Look I'm going to put breath into you And

make you live again I will put flesh and muscles

on you And cover you with skin I will put breath

into you And you will come to life Then you

will know that I am the Lord So I

spoke the message just as he told me suddenly as

I spoke there was a rattling noise all

across the valley the bones of each body came

together and attached themselves as complete skeletons

who can hear rattling right now there's rattling going

on in the house okay there's rattling the bones

of each body came together and attached themselves as

complete skeletons then as I watched muscles

and flesh formed over the bones then skin

formed to cover their bodies but they still had

no breath in them then he said to me speak a

prophetic message to the winds son of man

speak a prophetic message and say this is

what the sovereign lord says come oh breath

from the four winds breathe into these dead bodies

so they may live again so i spoke the message as he commanded me and breath

came into their bodies Then they came to life and stood up on their feet a great

army Then he said to me We sometimes stop there But let's read on, shall we?

Then he said to me Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel.

They are saying, we have become old dry bones. All hope is gone. Our nation is finished.

Therefore prophesy to them and say, this is what the sovereign Lord says.

Oh, my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again.

Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

This is what this, when this happens, oh, my people, you will know that I am

the Lord. I will put my spirit in you and you will live again and return home to your own land.

Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done what I said.

Yes, the Lord has spoken.

Yes, the Lord has. He said, oh, my people, I will open your graves of exile

and cause you to rise again.

Then I will bring you back. When this happens, oh, my people,

you will know that I am Lord.

I will put my spirit in you. I will put my spirit in you and you will live again and return home.

Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done what I said.

Yes, the Lord has spoken. The Lord is speaking to us this morning, church.

He really, many of us, many of us here today have situations in our lives,

which was once alive and flourishing, but now it's dead and buried.

But the Lord has said in his word that he will open our graves.

He will open our graves and he will put his spirit back in us,

back in us, that we shall live and he will place us in our own land.

Some of you here today maybe have been exiled from your own homes And your own families,

You've been driven out of the lives of those you love And you're now without

them in your lives Some of you perhaps here this morning Have been abandoned

by people Who were supposed to love you,

And lift you up in time of need And lift you up in time But instead they've left you high and dry,

They've left you in your time of trial and tribulation Just when you needed

their love and support They bailed on you in disgust and frustration.

Now, like I said, I'm going to do some prophesying right now.

I'm going to prophesy directly from the word of God, and I want you to receive it, okay?

I don't know whether I've said anything this morning that has impacted you.

It's impacting me right now, but I want to prophesy, and I want to declare over

you that the dry bones will live again, amen?

Okay, so to start with, let me start by saying this. But

God said But God said I will

make your dry bones live again I will

breathe life on you again I will put my spirit on

you Or in you And I will take you

out of the grave And set you on your feet again I will cause you to live again

I will make all your enemies be at peace with you I will bring you home again

I will prepare a table for you in the very presence of your enemies.

Come on. I will bring you out of the valley and set you on the mountaintop.

I will never leave you or forsake you. I will be closer. I will be a friend

that sticks closer than a brother.

That's what he wants to do for us today.

I will be your God and you will be my people.

I will bless you in your coming in and going out. I will make you the head and not the tail.

I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.

I will bring you out of the pit and I will set you where? On my holy hill.

That's what God's saying to us this morning. I will be your redeemer.

I will be your comforter. I will be your shield and your protector.

I will rise up and defend you.

I will make a way where there seems to be no way I will cause men to give to

you I will cause men to be at peace with you Did you hear that?

I will cause men to give to you I will cause men to be at peace with you I will

give my angels charge over you Who wants some angels in there?

Where's Sue this morning? Where are the angels in this room this morning?

I love it, I know I love it when Sue comes in and says, there's an angel that's

just walked up. I believe that's happened just then.

There's an angel charge over us.

I will be your ever-present hope, ever-present help in your days of trouble.

I will be with you always, even to the end of the world.

I will be your father. I will be your way maker.

I will be your deliverer. I will be your redeemer. I will be your hope when there is no hope.

Words from God just for us this morning. I will be your Lord.

I will be your Lord God. And since

I am with you, who could possibly stand against you and succeed? No one.

Somebody should, whether right now or very soon, someone should let the enemy

know that as for me and my house, we've served the Lord. Amen.

So I'll ask the question this morning. Why

are we so distraught over past hurts And past

relationships that perhaps fell apart Why do

we so easily lose our faith in

God When troubles come Why do

we lose heart so easily When our hopes and our dreams are dashed By this evil

world that we live in Have we forgotten Have we forgotten that the same God

Who spoke those dry bones back to life again is the same God,

the same God that sees your pain and hears your cries and is telling you today,

I hear you, I see you, I feel your pain, but I will make everything right again.

It's what he's saying to us this morning.

Have you forgotten that the same God who rose Jesus from the dead on the third

day is the same God that is reaching out to you right now and is perhaps right

in this room with us right now as well.

And he's saying, take my hand, take my hand and let me restore what has been lost.

It's so easy to let the storms in our lives put fear in our hearts, isn't it?

It's so easy to believe that all hope is lost nowadays, isn't it?

But we have a God who is our ever-present help in times of trouble. Ever.

I want us to remember, who bought some grapes this week?

Anyone get some grapes this week? Good stuff, Andrew.

Listen to last week's message if you missed it. But we have a God.

We have a God who can take a pile of bones that's been dead for years.

It was so good you mentioned that the blood is formed by bones, okay?

He can take a pile of bones that has been dead for years and breathe new life into them.

That's our God. We have a God who can make all things new.

All things new. We have a God who said in his word that he will never leave us nor forsake us.

So why do we feel sometimes like he's

so far away from us When we endure these

storms and failures in our lives Because we

allow them to Because we allow these storms to convince us that all is lost

And what we had is now gone forever We allow the circumstances of our lives

To convince us that once something is dead There is no hope of it living again,

But God, but God.

You have to remember that the same God who created the heavens and the earth

is the same God who is here in this place today.

He's here with us today. You have to remember that the same God that created the stars,

the moon, the sun is the same God who can take the dry bones left in the wake

of disaster in your life and breathe new life into them.

And they will start to rattle.

Oh, I'm feeling some rattling.

They will start to shake. They will start to move.

They will stand on their feet again, restored and made new, not a blemish or a scar on them.

Can you believe that? Yes.

God can take the dry bones in

your life and breathe new life into them and make them come alive again.

And they will be more alive than they've ever been because God has arrived on the scene.

That's our God. That's our God.

God has come to our aid this morning. And God has said to these dry bones, move, move.

And these bones, as I said, they start rattling and they start shaking and they

start coming together piece by piece.

They start connecting one to another. They start shaking and taking shape. They start wiggling.

They start moving. They start shaking and they start coming to life again.

Then the muscles and the tendons and the sinews, the flesh, the blood,

the nerves, the eyes, the ears, the mouth, all of it starts coming together to cover those bones.

And when all is said and done, what used to be dry bones is what the Bible says

is an exceedingly great army.

What used to be nothing but a pile of bones in your life is about to become

a mighty army in the name of the Lord your God.

We used to be in a valley of dead bones. We used to be in a valley of dead bones

and now we're about to become, which are now about to become a testimony in

your life before the Lord.

What used to be nothing but a heap of bones as dead as a doornail. What's a doornail?

We got a builder in the house that can tell me what a doornail is.

I haven't used, I'm a carpenter. I've never used a doornail.

So I guess that's why they're dead.

Really? Thank you, brother. But they're dead.

What used to be nothing but a heap of dry dead bones is as dead as a doornail,

is about to become your victory in the Lord.

Elijah, you're an apprentice carpenter. What's a doornail?

So when you go to work this week and your boss says, Elijah, get me a doornail.

We screw those in place now. Yeah, yeah.

All right. So weeping may endure for the night. Dead bones may lay there all night.

And not make a sound, but joy is on its way. Joy is on its way.

Tears may be falling today.

Bones may be left in a pile for the night. But when the sun comes up in the

morning, there will be joy.

Joy unspeakable because those dead, those dead bones, those smelly bones,

those nasty, funky bones are going

to stand up and be counted among the testimonies of the saints of God.

Those bones, those bones, those old dead bones are about to rise up at the command

of the Lord and the Lord is going to breathe new life into those bones.

The flesh is going to start taking shape.

The muscles are going to start pumping up inside those bones.

The heart is going to start beating again and there will be a gasp, a gasp.

Those bones won't be bones anymore. Those bones won't be just bones.

They're going to be bones. They're not going to be dead anymore.

Those bones are going to live again. Those bones are going to rise up at the

command of the Most High God and give praise to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

They will shout with a voice of triumph, those bones.

Those old dead bones aren't going to be old dead bones anymore.

Just like when Lazarus was dead and Jesus came to the tomb.

The Lord is going to cry out to those bones, arise and come forth, arise and come forth.

And the next thing you know, those bones are going to shake.

They're going to move. They're going to rattle.

They're going to make some noise. And then those bones are going to get covered.

They're going to get covered. The body's going to come back.

The muscles are going to come back. The heart is going to beat again.

And once was dead is alive again.

What seems dead to you is about to come alive again.

All of those things in your past, all of them. Come up, Josh. Come on. Yeah, come on.

Such a good God. Yeah. So I asked the question this morning.

Can these bones live again? At the word of the Lord, they most certainly can.

They most certainly can.

Can these bones live?

By the grace of God, they surely will.

Just like when Jesus told Lazarus to come forth, those old dead dry bones are

going to rise up and walk out of that grave.

God is going to take you out of the grave and set you on a holy mountain.

God is going to take the dead bones of your relationships The dead bones of

your family relationships And he's going to give the command Rise up and come forth.

So don't lose heart, don't lose hope, don't lose faith because God is about

to make the dry bones of your life to shake, rattle and roll and roll.

God is about to cause those dry bones to come alive and stand tall.

God's going to bring you up out of the grave and he's going to bring you home again.

That's our God. That is how good our God is.

Amen. Come on, let's stand. Let's do some praising.

Let's give thanks for the God of creation that even when it's dead,

he can rise it back up again.

So no matter what is in our past, Lord God, there's some things in our past

that need to be left in the past, but there's some things in our past that need to be restored.

And you are the God of restoration.

And I pray this morning in Jesus' name that you will take the bones of those

past things and you would raise them up, Lord.

You would cause them to start rattling and shaking.

Lord, you would cause them to start coming together. You would cause the things

in our past that we miss, that we want, that hurt us, Lord God,

to form back up again and to be a blessing in our lives.

Lord, we declare in Jesus' name that you are a God of restoration.

You are a God of redemption. You are a God of healed relationships,

Lord. You are a God of healing, Lord.

Healing. You are a God who heals. You are a God who takes things that seem dead and make them alive.

So, Lord, I pray this morning for every person here, Lord, that what's in their

past, Lord, that they are missing, that they are loving, that they want back,

Lord, you would form together and provide back to them better than ever before.

Whether it be relationships, whether it be business prospects,

Lord, whether it be, you know, whatever it be, Lord God, relationship with children,

relationship with parents, relationship with siblings.

Lord, restore it back together again.

And Lord, for those who have been rejected and hung out to dry,

Lord God, restore that, Lord God, restore that faith, Lord God,

restore that life to them in Jesus' name.

Lord, every person here, Lord, is being prepared right now for a restoration

in Jesus' name, for a redemption in Jesus' name.

And we claim that now in Jesus' name. Lord, we read, Lord God,

the story, the testimony, the incredible story of that valley of dry bones.

And we can see and we can read and we can understand, Lord God,

that nothing in the past needs to be lost, but everything that can come back,

that everything can come back to life again.

So we claim that now in Jesus' name for the areas in our life that we want restored.

We claim it and we receive it. And your answer is yes.

Yes, it is. Yes, I will. Yes, I will. Yes, I have.

And I will continue to. I will continue to restore your life in Jesus' Name.

Take hold of the promises of God this morning.

Walk out of this place with the excitement of knowing that restoration has come in your life.

Praise You, Jesus. Praise You, Lord God. We give You thanks. We give You praise.

We thank You for Your journey, Lord God, in our lives, Lord,

the past, the present, but Lord, the future, the future of restoration,

the future of love, the future of reliability that comes from a Saviour who

loves us, who laid down His life for us, Lord.

We claim all of that in the name of the mighty Jesus of Nazareth.

Right now in Jesus' name. We claim it. We thank you, Lord. Praise your name. Thank you, Lord.

Praise you. I want you to go this week, church. I want you to go and I want

you to claim that. Claim that word, claim that prophecy over your life of restoration.

Amen. Take it and receive it. Hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord. Amen.