An illustrated sermon on Ezekiel 37. God's vision and our vision

1. Bone Yard
Ezekiel 37

3. Bone Yard
Ezekiel 37

4. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are
the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our
bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We
are completely cut off.’ “Therefore prophesy and
say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will
open your graves and cause you to come up out of
your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the
land of Israel. “Then you will know that I am the
LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused
you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 “I
will put My Spirit within you and you will come to
life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you
will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done
it,” declares the LORD.’ ”

5. What causes death?
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He
brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD
and set me down in the middle of the
valley; and it was full of bones.

6. …for through the
Law comes the
knowledge of
sin.
Romans 3:20 b
For the wages of
sin is death, but
the free gift of
God is eternal
life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

7. Dead & Dying
Christian Style
Examine Your Life
1 Corinthians 11:28 But a man must examine
himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the
bread and drink of the cup.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves to see if
you are in the faith; examine yourselves!
Or do you not recognize this about
yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—
unless indeed you fail the test?
Galatians 6:3–4 For if anyone thinks he is
something when he is nothing, he
deceives himself. 4 But each one must
examine his own work, and then he will
have reason for boasting in regard to
himself alone, and not in regard to
another.
He caused me to
pass among them
round about, and
behold, there were
very many on the
surface of the
valley; and lo, they
were very dry.
Ezekiel 37:2

8. Peak at the Body
Why is my life like it is?
Where is the power?
What is getting in the
way?
Honest assessment-
Mirror
God’s Word-Big Bible
Holy Spirit

9. Slow Process
Revelation 3:2 (NASB95)
2 ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which
were about to die; for I have not found your deeds
completed in the sight of My God.
Hebrews 2:1 (NASB95)
1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to
what we have heard, so that we do not drift away
from it.
Hebrews 2:3 (NASB95)
3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it
was confirmed to us by those who heard,

10. Parable of sower
Persecution/affliction
Cares/pursuit of money
1 Timothy 6:10 (NASB95)
10 For the love of money is a root of all
sorts of evil, and some by longing for it
have wandered away from the faith and
pierced themselves with many griefs.

11. Good Question
He said to me, “Son of man, can these
bones live?” And I answered,
“O Lord GOD, You know.”

12. Death Everywhere
Satan has lied
Can these bones live again?
Christian walk
Marriage
Family
your life

13. What does God have to say?
“Prophesy over these bones and say to
them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the
LORD.’ “Thus says the Lord GOD to these
bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to
enter you that you may come to life. 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.’ ”

14. Use God’s Words
Whosoever believe
By His stripes
I will pour out
I will hear from heaven
…I have appointed watchmen; All day and all
night they will never keep silent. You who
remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves
Isaiah 62:6

15. Why prophesy?
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the
tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
Romans 4:17 …even God, who gives life to the dead
and calls into being that which does not exist.
1 John 5:14 -15 This is the confidence which we have
before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in
whatever we ask, we know that we have the
requests which we have asked from Him.

16. Do what God tells you
So I prophesied as I was commanded;
and as I prophesied, there was a noise,
and behold, a rattling; and the bones
came together, bone to its bone. And I
looked, and behold, sinews were on
them, and flesh grew and skin covered
them; but there was no breath in them.

17. A Miracle in Process
Obedience set miracles in motion
Everything has a starting point
Not all miracles are instantaneous

18. Continue to Obey
Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the
breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to
the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,
“Come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe on these slain, that they come to
life.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded
me, and the breath came into them, and
they came to life and stood on their feet,
an exceedingly great army.

19. Can’t Have Life Without Ruah
The wind is the breath of God, controlled
by Him, coming from Him and creative
for His purposes.

20. Did You Notice?
A Vast Army
…but you will
receive power when
the Holy Spirit has
come upon you;
and you shall be My
witnesses both in
Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria,
and even to the
remotest part of the
earth.”
Acts 1:8

21. The Wind Blows Again
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were
all together in one place. And suddenly there
came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing
wind, and it filled the whole house where they
were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues
as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested
on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Acts 2:1–4

23. Bone Yard
Ezekiel 37