Rev. David Holwick ZE
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 16, 2012
Ezekiel 37:1-6
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I. I love old Frankenstein movies.
A. He lives! He lives!
His body is raised up to an opening in the roof and lightning
bolts strike the reconstructed corpse.
He fitfully comes alive.
Unfortunately, he has been made from sub-standard material -
criminals and brain-damaged types.
Frankenstein has a soft side but also a tendency to throttle
people.
Rampaging villagers with pitchforks give their opinion of him.
B. The danger of being "kinda" alive.
1) You breathe, you go through the motions, but there is no
substance or meaning to it.
2) What would it be like to be fully alive?
II. A valley of dry bones.
A. Bones get your attention.
1) Finding a buffalo skeleton in Yellowstone.
a) You wonder what happened to him.
b) Then you start to think - will I ever look like that?
1> Part of the attraction of the Bodies exhibit, where
humans are at various stages of dissection.
2> What you look like with your skin off.
2) Jews focuses on bones.
a) They buried bodies but realized those don't last long.
b) After bodies lay in a tomb for a year or two, relatives
went inside and gathered the bones and put them in
special stone boxes called ossuaries.
c) All the bones got jumbled up, but there was something
there to be put back together by God at the future
resurrection.
B. Ezekiel's vision draws upon this belief.
1) What God will do for believers, he will also do for Israel.
2) In his vision, the bones rattle together.
a) Tendons and flesh came next.
b) They look like regular people, but they are not alive
yet.
c) The one thing they need is breath, which must come
from God.
1> "Breath" is an ambiguous word in the Hebrew - it
can mean breath or Spirit (or even wind).
3) I think Ezekiel is pointing out that having a warm body is
not enough.
a) Only God can truly energize us, make us fully alive.
III. The historical angle.
A. The great drama of the Exile.
1) Prophets predicted it would happen because of the idolatry
and wickedness of the Israelites.
a) It was God's way of cleaning out the nation.
b) Ezekiel was one of those caught in the middle of it.
2) The prophets also predicted it would come to an end.
a) Against all odds, they would return to the land of
Israel.
b) This almost never happened in ancient times.
B. It is not enough to return.
1) God wanted something new for them.
a) A different attitude about their walk with God. 37:23
b) He wanted them to chuck their idolatry and evil ways.
2) God was going to do it himself.
a) Immediate fulfillment - 517 BC.
b) Ultimate fulfillment - ??.
1> They came back, and gave up idolatry.
2> But they didn't get the prosperity, peace,
and perfect king. 37:24-26
3> That waits for the return of Jesus.
IV. Christians can be like Ezekiel's valley.
A. We are scattered around because of sin.
1) We don't worship little statues like the Jews did, but
other things have pushed God to the side in our lives.
2) Just as their society ended up cutting each other's throats,
we end up harsh, self-centered and alienated.
3) We know something is wrong even if we can't put our finger
on it.
a) As Ezekiel says in verse 11, the hope is gone.
b) We lose that confidence in God's future.
B. We've got all the parts, but something important is missing.
1) Maybe it is something we once had, and lost.
2) Maybe it is something we never really had.
a) Not everyone who goes to church has a genuine spiritual
experience.
b) Sometimes we just run on fumes.
This week Baptist leader Albert Mohler noticed a letter to
columnist Carolyn Hax of The Washington Post.
The letter seems straightforward enough:
"I am a stay-at-home mother of four who has tried to raise my
family under the same strong Christian values that I grew
up with," the woman writes.
"Therefore I was shocked when my oldest daughter, 'Emily,'
suddenly announced she had 'given up believing in God' and
decided to 'come out' as an atheist."
The idea of a 16-year-old atheist in the house would be enough
to alarm any Christian parent, and rightly so.
It seems odd for her to turn to a secular advice columnist,
but desperation can lead a parent to seek help anywhere.
She got the kind of advice you would expect from a columnist
like this - therapeutic counsel based in a secular worldview.
Carolyn Hax told the mother to respect her daughter's
declaration of atheism.
She needs to be free to be herself.
The real problem isn't with Carolyn Hax's answer, however, but
with the mother's question.
The problem appears at the onset, when the mother states that
she has "tried to raise my family under the same strong
Christian values that I grew up with."
Christian values are the problem.
Hell will be filled with people who were strongly committed to
Christian values.
Christian values cannot save anyone and never will.
A comfortability with Christian values can blind sinners to
their need for the gospel.
Most of our neighbors have some commitment to Christian values,
but what they desperately need is salvation from their sins.
This does not come by Christian values, no matter how
fervently held.
Salvation comes only by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Moralism is the most potent of all the false gospels.
It is the main ingredient of cultural Christianity where you
live a nice life and do church stuff but you really don't
think or believe differently than anyone else.
Far too many church folk fail to recognize that their own
religion is only cultural Christianity - not the genuine
Christian faith.
We should not pray for Christian morality to disappear or for
Christian values to evaporate.
But a culture marked even by Christian values is in desperate
need of evangelism.
We need to know Jesus in a personal way.
If you don't, you're just an empty sack of bones in God's eyes.
#63727
C. How dry are your bones?
1) Make an assessment of your spirituality.
a) First, you probably look at how you feel about your
faith.
b) But don't stop there - what kind of an impact are you
having on others?
2) Perhaps you need a fresh dose of God's Holy Spirit in your
life.
V. Resurrection can happen.
A. I did three funerals last week.
1) You know the mourners are wondering what is happening right
now to their loved ones.
2) I put a flower on the caskets and talked about new life,
but is it true? Is it real?
B. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection."
1) Concerning the death of his friend Lazarus, he affirmed
their would be a future resurrection of the dead.
2) But he also said we can rise from the dead RIGHT NOW.
a) In John 5:24, Jesus says:
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and
believes him who sent me has eternal life and
will not be condemned; he has crossed over from
death to life.
I tell you the truth, a time is coming AND HAS NOW COME
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God
and those who hear will live."
b) Christianity is not for when you are dead.
c) It is something that happens to make you alive right now.
1> Is this what you are experiencing?
C. Our need for revival.
1) It would be wonderful to be a church where everybody was
excited about the things of God.
a) Where we don't need to badger each other about attending
or giving or studying.
b) All these things would come naturally.
2) Something else would be natural - genuine love for each
other.
3) We can have that kind of church, if God's Spirit is in us.
a) But first it must be in you.
b) Do you listen to the voice of Jesus?
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#63727 “Christian Values Cannot Save Anyone,” Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr.,
President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 9/12/2012,
<http://www.albertmohler.com/2012/09/11/christian-values-cannot~
-save-anyone/>
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