TEXT: 2 Peter 1
1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
BR: Ezekiel 37
37 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, 2 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. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 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.
7 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. 8 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.
9 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. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12 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. 13 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, 14 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.
INTRO: What might this prophecy in Ezekiel mean?
Maybe a look at the CONTEXT will help.
Israel, since its inception was given to idolatry and rebellion against the God that created them. The OT books of Kings and Chronicles contain the record of their national downfall. God took away his blessings upon them, they deteriorated and collapsed.
After all the destruction, captivity, starvation and death, all hope was lost. That’s when they said:
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.”
The context of this prophecy? God will, in the end,
Revive you O’Israel. This hasn’t happened yet, btw.
Jesus Christ, has promised YOU restoration, in him; not to some previous, state, but to one you NEVER had before; to the condition that God created man to have.
He will restore the inward man, and later, the outward.
I. The destructive nature of sin
Ezekiel saw the massive valley filled with broken bones.
Who knows which bone went to which?
Sin breaks people’s lives, and the world is a society of broken, marred people.
A. Corruption
For clarity’s sake, we must define this misused word.
The world uses this word as a tag or label, to falsely accuse others:
“That politician is corrupt” they say. They mean he’s dishonest or morally depraved.
The REAL definition?
Marred or broken; look at the many uses of this word in the Bible:
2 Cor 7:2
Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
I can say that today, can you?
Gal 6:8
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
People are destroying themselves by sowing seeds; planting things that are all about lust and desire, gain and fame; those seeds grow their brokenness and unhappiness.
Eph 4:22
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Before you got saved, you were corrupt.
1 Tim 6:5
Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
Broken minds.
2 Tim 3:8
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
Corrupt minds resist truth, and especially those who PREACH truth.
James 5:2
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
1 Pet 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1 Pet 3:4
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
2 Pet 1:4
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
THERE is the cause of it all…people’s lust.
2 Pet 2:12
But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
B. The Broken Bones
The bones were broken; a symbol of Israel’s broken condition, and the broken condition of all humanity, from the beginning until now.
Noah’s days
Genesis 6:11–13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Will God act again? Jesus said THIS:
Luke 17:24–30
24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. 25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
II. God took action
He commanded Ezekiel to speak to the bones.
Then he commanded him to speak to the wind, and there came the breath of life.
God saw our broken condition, and he took action.
Jesus did his work and the will of God for him.
He sends preachers to speak over your broken lives, to call upon the spirit of God to breathe upon you, that you might live; the broken shattered people might stand up as a mighty army for God.
A. There is none righteous
Romans 3:9–18
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
God repeated this idea in the Psalms:
Psalm 14:1–3
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
They are corrupt, they have done abominable works,
There is none that doeth good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy:
There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Jesus Christ was never corrupted
Acts 13:31–40
31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. 35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: 37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;
B. You must take action
If you are not willing to act, you get nothing…etc
James 1:21–22
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
III. A call to action
You go to church, and then there is a call to action from God, or from your pastor; it is a CALL.
You received Bible information and inspiration that calls upon you to act.
A. You cannot act without the information from the word of God .
That’s because the Word of God tells you what to DO.
Did you know that many people avoid church or quit altogether because they didn’t want pressure to take action?
They call it mind control. God Calls it persuasion to act in the right way.
To repent; make the right decision.
The preacher therefore cries out
Like a blaring trumpet REPENT!
Just like John Baptist, “prepare ye the way of the Lord.”
MOCKERS love to mock that, but it’s God’s call to action.
Stop, change your direction, you’re destroying yourself!
As Daniel prayed, he said, my comeliness is turned in me to corruption.
Daniel 10:8–10
8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. 9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. 10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
He did not mean that, while he was praying, God translated his beauty into filthiness, but it was about the way he viewed himself. And she prayed and saw God he realized how unrighteous he really was . He saw his need in a new light.
ILL: Conversation about Taps; the song for the dead.
PROCLAIM the Word, don’t whisper it!
B. Reviving the Bones
If you find yourself broken, there is only one answer; speak to the broken, shattered bones of your affliction.
In that vision of Ezekiel, they stood up as a mighty army, because God wanted Israel to know that he would one day restore them, and fulfill his promises to them.
But you who are in Christ, are automatically partakers of the same promise; you can RISE!
