Summons to Life

March 28, 1993

Note: In reading/preaching this it will be best NOT to read the main points (headers.)

Ezekiel 37

John 11

Romans 6

Introduction

Come with me into the mind and heart of an ancient prophet.

I. AN ASTONISHING VISION OF REVIVAL IN THE PROPHETIC WORD OF GOD

It is easy to read snatches of the ancient prophet's message, The Book of Ezekiel, and be completely put off, and dismiss him as eccentric, negative, and hopelessly imbedded in a long-dead culture. Actually Ezekiel was sensitive, caring, full of hope; and above all, he was faithful.

In the message God gave Ezekiel for us he was given a vision, in which he was set down in a valley which was full of human bones, dry bones— bones of people more suited to pages of National Geographic and archeology than anything else. In this valley of dry bones God the LORD began a conversation with the prophet:

"Son of man," God addressed Ezekiel; "Can these bones live?"

Ezekiel was properly evasive. He had a prophet's lofty regard for the Almighty. But he saw that the bones were relics, very dead indeed.

"O LORD GOD, You know the answer to that!"

God continues. This time there is a command. No room for mistake. Ezekiel heard God say, "Preach over these bones!"

Then God even gave Ezekiel a text and a message. It was a message of promise and hope, even if there did not seem any one there to listen.

"Tell these bones," God said, "'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' (That is your text. Now here is your message:)

'Thus says the Lord God YHWH to you bones: 'Behold I will cause breath (Rhuach, spirit) to enter you that you may come back to life. And I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I AM the LORD."'"

So Ezekiel stood there, in the valley of dry bones. And he took his text that God had given him, and preached the word that God had said.

And then Ezekiel said, "In my vision, even as I preached there was a noise, and a rattling, and the bones came together, bone by bone."

Like trick photography there was suddenly an army of people- -well, at least, an army of bodies, for Ezekiel said, "There was nobreath in them."

Then Almighty God broke in again and spoke to his prophet: "Pray now to the Wind, Son of man! Pray to the Spirit, and say to the Rhuah, "Come, Holy Spirit, and blow over these dead bodies!"

What a vision! In his vision Ezekiel saw this great host of corpses come alive and stand on their feet, ready to take orders from God, ready to live!

And Ezekiel understood!

He took the message back to his discouraged, captive, nominally believing, dead fellowship by the River Kebar.

And we have this word from God today! His vision speaks to us of the evocative power of God's word.

Leave that thought for a moment. Ezekiel's is a vision of astonishing revival. Look now at a second passage, this time a story, a very true story, that is meant to climax the good news of our Savior's ministry before His passion.

II. A POWERFUL MIRACLE OF RETURN FROM PHYSICAL DEATH AT THE CALL OF THE INCARNATE WORD OF GOD

Lazarus was a real man, who lived and died in a small house two miles east of the city of Jerusalem. When he became ill, and it became apparent that he was close to death his sisters, Martha and Mary, sent for Jesus where he was in retreat beyond the Jordan River. Jesus received the communication, and then to everyone's surprise He stayed right where He was for two more days. Lazarus was already dead when the message reached Him.

When the two days had passed Jesus set out for Bethany, a day's journey away. On the fourth day after the death He came to the edge of the village, where He was met by Martha, the proactive member of the family.

"Lord," she said, "Why did You have to take some time off? If you had just been here, my brother would still be alive!"

"YOUR BROTHER WILL RISE AGAIN!"

"I know he will, in the final resurrection. But that is a long way off, and he is gone from our lives!"

Then came words that mean more than we can ever fully comprehend. Words that we say at the funeral of the saints. Words that go to the heart of our Christian faith.

"I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!"

Only God Himself could say this and be truthful. Martha knew Jesus, and knew He could not, would not ever lie. Her heart pounded as she tried to grasp what Jesus was really saying, as He went on:

"THE PERSON WHO BELIEVES IN ME WILL LIVE EVEN IF THEY DIE; AND ANYONE WHO IS ALIVE AND BELIEVES IN ME WILL NEVER DIE!"

Then came a question:

"DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?"

For the moment Martha forgot the sorrow of the day and the fact that her brother was dead. She was struck by faith, struck full in the heart. She knew who Jesus really WAS and IS!

"Yes, Lord," she said, "I DO believe that You are the Anointed One the prophets all told about! I believe You are the Son of the living God!"

And she left to call her sister, the meditative religious of the family.

Mary repeated the same "if only" that her sister Martha had said minutes before. Jesus was deeply moved by their grief. He was not playing with their sorrow.

"TAKE ME TO THE GRAVE! OPEN IT, REMOVE THE STONE!" He commanded when they had reached the cave-tomb.

"It won't be good!" said Mary. Lazarus had been dead four days.

"HOLD STEADY, TRUST ME," said the Master.

Then Jesus called to the dead man, whose eyes were permanently blind, and whose ears were permanently stopped, and whose life-systems had shut down in the sleep of death. Jesus called him by name:

"LAZARUS! ELEAZAR! COME FORTH! COME TO ME!"

And in the tomb the man who had died came stumbling, wriggling, hopping out, bound all around with the peculiar wrappings with which bodies were then prepared for burial.

"LET HIM GO! UNBIND HIM!" said Jesus.

It was an astounding miracle. It set off the final countdown to the Cross.

Ezekiel's vision: astonishing revival; the raising of Lazarus: powerful miracle— but the theme, the message is the same— (do you hear it?) — the evocative power of the Word of God. When God speaks, He calls into being— when God speaks there is LIFE. Moses wrote, in Deuteronomy, "Man shall not live by bread alone, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD!" But that is not the end of our message this morning:

III. A GRACIOUS CHALLENGE TO LIFE THROUGH THE SPIRIT-BREATHED WORD

  1. We like to hear from the Bible that God's word can raise the dead. These passages give us hope for a future time when we shall have died, and when we shall hear the call to resurrection. And make no mistake, we shall all rise, not to re-incarnation, but to face the fact of the person we are now becoming.
  2. But there is a more pressing call to be heard here. The wind of the Spirit blows over our deadness, and calls us to life!

    Certainly you and I are not the intended "target" of Ezekiel's vision? You and I could never think of ourselves as dead and dry ... could we?

    The voice of the Savior calls us by name! "Come forth!"

    Do you see it here, in this epistle passage?

    "Don't you know that Jesus Christ died in your place on the cross?" You don't have to die any more! You don't have to be dead, dry bones!

    So— hear the Spirit's breath blowing over and among us now!

    So— hear the Savior's voice calling:

    "Reckon yourself dead, yes, dead to sin— but alive indeed unto God!"

Conclusion

Suppose I hear God, or I think I do— calling me to life?

What do I have to do to come into this newness?

Lazarus was dead! He had nothing at all that he could do to bring the stir of life.

But when he heard the Christ calling his name, Lazarus could and did respond!

And so can we, you and I!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, If we hear what we think we hear today—You are calling our name! We want to come to life! O God, without You life is not really life at all! We hear You saying, "Come to Me!" Please, Jesus, help us take that next step into Your Presence, because knowing You is What Life is all about! Amen.

Sing (in EH) #54 O Breath of Christ, vv 1 and 3 only