Good evening, 5pm. Are we well? Cold? No? No? Some people are warm? That's good to hear.
Well, my name is James, I'm a student minister here at St. Paul's, and it's a joy to be bringing
the word of God tonight to you all. So how about I pray for us as we begin. Please join
me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much that we can come to you tonight, we
can gather as your people, even on this cold night, and we pray, Father, that you would
work in us tonight through your word, that you would change us, that you would warm our
hearts with the joy of the gospel, of what you've done through your son Jesus, in whose name
we pray. Amen. Hopelessness is not a feeling any of us enjoy. It is something we dread
feeling when things go wrong, sometimes even in the most smallest of ways, like last year's
AFL Grand Final. I had made sure I had the whole day off so I could watch my mates, see
the Swans get up and win the AFL Grand Final, to see a great battle between the Hawks and
the Swans, and hoping to see the Swans go away with the flag. Boy, oh boy, was I disappointed.
Weren't we all? If you're a Swans fan, especially, I mean, as the game went on, it was just dreadful
to watch. The Hawks kept extending their lead out, walking all over the Swans. It was as
if the Swans didn't turn up to play the match. My hope felt the whole game just dwindled,
and by the time the siren of the fourth quarter sounded, all hope was gone. Swans had lost
terribly. And it was just depressing, sitting there watching the whole game unfold, knowing
it was just hopeless. There was no hope of winning. The Hawks were just too good for us.
Sometimes hopelessness can affect us in much more serious ways. I remember getting a phone
call from my father, and he was telling me that my uncle had just been diagnosed with lung cancer,
and they had caught it in a very late stage, a bit too late. It was only a number of months
after I received that call, I got another call, and he had passed away. Those months were difficult.
I felt helpless. I felt hopeless. My uncle was dying. I couldn't do anything to stop it.
I had this feeling of inadequacy. I could do nothing. I just had to accept it, and sit there,
and just wait. But such a conclusion is not one we like, nor is it one we accept. We are creatures
of hope. Our world is obsessed with hope. All over Facebook, we are bombarded with stories of hope
that always ends. You've good news. Our movies and TV shows tap into our felt need for hope,
to see the hero overcome obstacles, holding on to hope for a good outcome. We are people of hope,
and even in death, we hope. At the funeral of Philip Hughes, Michael Clark spoke very passionately
and lovingly towards his friend and fellow teammate. He finished by stating that Hughesy would always
be present with him on the cricket field when he went out to bat. The way Clark dealt with the
seemingly hopelessness of the situation was to ignore the reality of death itself and somehow justify
his ongoing presence through some sort of spiritual or ethereal presence on the cricket field.
Hopelessness is not something we enjoy, so even in the face of death, we choose to hope.
Hopelessness is not something we enjoy, whether it's by ignoring the reality of our pain or by explaining it away,
we choose to hope. However, this is not a description of the Israelite people in Ezekiel.
They were a people who did have much hope to begin with, but now they were a people of utter despair
and hopelessness. Why? Because they were under the complete judgment of the Lord God. And by the time
we get to chapter 37, they are in a pitiful state as a people. They're not trying to look for hope in the
midst of hopelessness, trying to explain it away. They describe themselves in verse 11 as dry bones.
They're in a death-like state, a hopeless state, and any chance to find hope was gone.
All because they felt and experienced and knew that they were under the terrible judgment of God.
One cannot simply explain away God's terrible judgment.
To think so many today are living hopeful lives, looking forward to the future, looking forward to tomorrow,
with hope, and yet at the same time, ignorant that they live under the very same judgment of God
as the Israelites did.
In the end, blind to the hopelessness that sums up their true reality.
Is this the end of Israel?
Is this death-like state forever their reality?
And what about us?
Us, who Ephesians 2.1 describes as dead in our sin.
Is there any way out of this hopeless, death-like state for us?
Is there any way out of this hopelessness?
Live again.
The amazing truth, the incredible miracle of this passage is that the answer is yes.
Yes, dead, dry bones can live again.
And this passage will tell us how.
Indeed, verses 1 to 14 tell us how dry bones can live again.
And verses 15 to 28 will tell us what this new life looks like now as the people of God.
So firstly, how can dry bones live again?
How can these bones have new life?
Look at verse 3.
He asked me, Son of man, can these bones live?
I said, Sovereign Lord, you alone know.
Then he said to me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
God asked Ezekiel here, after showing him the valley of the dry bones, can these bones live again?
It's a bit of an unfair question, don't you think?
The obvious answer is no.
Of course not.
These bones are dead.
They're so dead, they're dry.
They've been dead for so long.
There's no way these bones could live.
But the one asking the question is not anyone.
It's God.
He is the creator of all life.
The one in control of life and death.
So Ezekiel answers wisely.
Only you know God.
A wise answer, indeed, which acknowledges that God is the one who says who lives and who dies.
Ezekiel is then told in verse 4 how these bones are going to live.
He is going to prophesy to these dead bones.
Saying to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord God.
That is how God is going to give life to these bones.
He's going to speak to them.
Now he didn't already think the idea of dead bones living again was a bit far-fetched.
Surely now you think his method is.
I mean, he's going to speak to bones.
I have a dog.
That's a Shih Tzu cross poodle named Mr. Bingley.
And if you're wondering, yes, it's from Pride and Prejudice.
Mr. Bingley from Pride and Prejudice.
If you've seen or read the book.
Now Mr. Bingley always, I kid you not, he always poos in my room.
Whenever I go to college for a week and I come back, there's always a little gift in my room waiting for me.
And it's very, very frustrating.
It's very annoying.
And I get really upset about it.
All I want to do is when I get home is just relax and sit down and put my feet up.
But then the first thing I've got to do is clean up a little dog poo from my room.
And it gets very frustrating.
I remember one time I was so fed up.
I was so angry at my dog for doing this that I had to do something.
Now I don't believe in hurting animals.
But I had to do something.
So I went downstairs.
I found the dog.
I picked him up.
And I carried him to my room.
And I made him look at the turd.
I made him look at it for some time.
Now I made him look at me.
And I said to Mr. Bingley, this is not acceptable.
You can't do this.
This is wrong.
And it went on for about a minute and a half.
And I realized at that point, this is ridiculous.
This is not going to work.
He's a dog.
And I'm trying to communicate with a dog and tell him not to do that.
That is, this is not working.
And I felt pretty dumb and pretty stupid for doing that.
And I feel like it's the same here.
How does speaking to dry bones and telling them to live again going to work?
At least my dog was alive.
And I could pick him up and I could show him.
These are dead, dry bones.
They are lifeless.
Whilst I might have thought in a moment that my words had some sort of power over my dog,
my words are nothing compared to God's words.
When God speaks, powerful things happen.
It was through his word that everything came into being, that God created the world.
God said, let there be, and there was.
The psalmist says in chapter 33, for he spoke and it came into being.
He commanded and it came into existence.
When God creates, he does so by speaking.
When he gives life, he does so by speaking it.
And so when, through the prophet Ezekiel, he commands the bones to live,
they will live.
Because these are the words of the almighty God.
They're not my words or anyone else's words.
They are God's words.
And we see this take place in verse 7.
So I prophesied as I was commanded.
And as I was prophesying, that is telling these bones to live,
there was a noise, a rattling sound.
And the bones came together.
Bone to bone, I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them.
And skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
As Ezekiel spoke to the bones to hear their Lord God,
new life began to come upon these bones to form bodies.
Now we are told at this point there was no breath in them.
That these bodies were formed, but they had no life just yet.
Now this word breath comes from the Hebrew word ruach.
Can you say ruach?
Ruach.
Don't be afraid to use spitball.
Ruach.
Come on.
Ruach.
Yeah, that's good.
That's good.
It can mean breath or wind.
But it can also mean spirit.
And it's difficult to work out how we should read this word here.
Ruach.
Is it breath or is it spirit?
I think in this chapter it means both.
I mean, it has to mean breath.
Because how would these bodies become alive?
Indeed we see in verse 9,
Such a picture of this breath,
breathing into the slain, into the bodies,
is reminiscent of God breathing life into Adam.
Which makes me think,
since it is God who gives life,
that this breath must be also referring to the spirit.
Indeed, when God is interpreting the prophecy
in the vision to Ezekiel,
he says in verse 14,
I will put my spirit in you,
and you will live.
God's spirit, his ruach, gives life.
And it does so in the command of his word.
Indeed, his word is enacted and carried out by the spirit.
And so as we read on the result,
they all arose,
all these bodies,
as they were breathed life into him,
they all arose like an army.
The interpretation of this vision and prophecy
is that all the house of Israel
made up these dry bones.
They were in a death-like state,
saying to themselves,
we are dry bones.
Our hope is no more.
We are cut off.
But then God says to him in verse 12,
interpreting the prophecy,
this is what the sovereign Lord says,
my people,
I am going to open your graves
and bring you up from them.
I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
Then you, my people,
will know that I am the Lord
when I open your graves
and bring you up from them.
I will put my spirit in you
and you will live.
And I will settle you in your own lands.
Then you will know that I, the Lord,
have spoken.
And I have done it,
declares the Lord.
God's word is Israel's salvation.
Although they were dead,
although they were hopeless,
under God's terrible judgment,
through the word spoken by the grace of God,
Israel is given new life by his spirit.
God's word is our salvation.
And although we were dead in our sins,
hopeless, helpless,
to do anything about our sin,
under God's terrible judgment,
ignorant that we were so,
God, through his word,
indeed the word that became flesh,
gave us new life by his spirit.
Indeed, Ezekiel is looking forward
to the salvation that we enjoy now,
to the word of God
that would become incarnate in flesh
to save us from our deathly state,
to give life to these dry bones.
Jesus, the word of God,
the fullest and final revelation of God,
who takes away the sin of the world
and makes his sacrifice effective for us
by his spirit,
giving us new life.
I wonder if there's any of us here
who haven't accepted God's word,
who are living lives ignorant
that you are under God's terrible judgment.
We heard last week from Steve
that we ought not to harden ourselves
to God's word as it's revealed to us.
God's word gives life,
life that saves us from our sins,
from our death-like state.
And so tonight,
if you haven't heard the great news
that we are saved from our death-like state,
then I encourage you to listen,
to hear what God has to say to you.
The words of the gospel are powerful.
They are words that bring life.
And it's why Paul is so bold to say
in Romans 1.16,
I am not ashamed of the gospel
because it's the power of God
for the salvation of all who believe.
Is it not incredible
that we, as we have been made alive
by God's word,
given new life?
And now the very words
that brought life to us and to Israel
have now been given to us in the gospel.
That as we go out and speak to dry bones,
they might hear God speak to them
and speak of the one who died for them.
That they might have new life
by the Spirit.
Is that not just incredible?
We, who were once dead in our sins
but now made alive by God's Spirit,
we now have the opportunity
to go tell others,
to other dry bones,
God's word,
God's redeeming word in the gospel
and be conduits of this new life.
How does one have new life?
By the very grace of God
who gives us life through his word
by the power of the Spirit.
All for the glory of his name.
This is where we get to our second point.
What does this new life look like
as the people of God?
We learn that although we were dead in our sins,
we were in a hopeless, death-like state.
God, through his word,
by his Spirit,
has given us new life.
But what does this new life look like?
How does it shape the way we live today?
What does it mean for us?
Well, look at verse 15.
The word of the Lord came to me,
Son of man,
take a stick of wood and write on it,
belonging to Judah
and the Israelites associated with him.
Then take another stick of wood
and write on it,
belonging to Joseph,
that is to Ephraim,
and all the Israelites associated with him.
Join them together into one stick
so that they will become one in your hand.
These sticks represent two kingdoms of Israel
before the exile,
the northern kingdom of Joseph
and the southern kingdom of Judah.
And Ezekiel is told to bring these sticks together
and make them one.
When the people of God wonder
why exactly this is
and what this all means,
Ezekiel is told to tell them,
verse 21,
this is what the sovereign Lord says.
I will take the Israelites
out of the nations where they have gone.
I will gather them from all around
and bring them back into their own land.
I will make them one nation in the land
on the mountains of Israel.
There will be one king over all of them
and they will never again be two nations
or be divided into two kingdoms.
For Israel,
new life meant that they would no longer
be scattered
like the exile had made them scattered.
They would no longer be divided
amongst each other,
separated into the north and to the south,
but God was going to make them
one nation once again.
They would enjoy being brought back
into the one land
as one people
under one Lord and King.
Never again to be divided.
Never again to be scattered.
Never again to become dry bones.
to be in this death-like state.
Because
intrinsic to this new life
was the gathering of God's people.
Was God's people becoming one?
That is the shape
of the new life that we have
in Jesus.
Now the people were originally scattered
because of their disobedience
and unwillingness to turn to God,
to listen to his word.
Deuteronomy 28, 64
warns them as such.
To give you some context though,
verse 54 of 28 says this,
If you do not carefully follow
all the words of this law
which are written in this book
and do not revere this glorious
and awesome name,
the Lord your God,
verse 64,
then the Lord will scatter you
among all the nations
from one end of the earth to another.
There you will worship other gods,
gods of wood and stone,
which neither you nor your ancestors
have known.
The scattering was a curse
on God's people
because they did not heed
and follow his word.
They did not listen.
God cursed them
and scattered them.
And so they could not enjoy
the blessings
and the promises
that came being a unified people
under God.
But here in Ezekiel 37,
we see that new life
for God's people
means being brought together
in the land
as one people.
Indeed,
whilst the scattering
of God's people
was always seen
as a curse,
the gathering
of God's people
has always been seen
as a blessing.
Deuteronomy 12,
verse 5 says this,
But you are to seek
the place
the Lord your God
will choose
from among all your tribes
to put his name there
for his dwelling.
To the place
you must go.
There,
bring your burnt offerings
and sacrifices,
your tithes and special gifts,
what you have vowed to give
and your freewill offerings,
and the firstborn
of your herds and flocks.
There,
in the presence
of the Lord your God,
you and your families
shall eat
and shall rejoice
in everything
you have put your hand to,
because the Lord your God
has blessed you.
When God's people
live faithfully
in the land,
obeying his word
and worshipping him rightly,
they enjoy unity
as the people
of God.
Verse 18 goes on,
Instead,
you are to eat them
in the presence
of the Lord your God
at the place
the Lord your God
will choose.
You,
your sons
and your daughters,
your male
and female servants
and the Levites
from your towns,
and you are to rejoice
before the Lord your God
in everything
you put your hand to.
True and proper
worship of God
is when the people
of God
are gathered together
as one,
not scattered,
but together as one
to rejoice
and be thankful
for what the Lord
has done.
And it's with this
in mind,
Ezekiel 37
wants us to land,
that as God
gives us new life
to our dry bones,
he restores,
his people
to the oneness
that they used
to enjoy.
However,
Ezekiel 37
is pointing forward
to so much more
than just
Israel's restoration,
but to what
this new life
looks like
for all people,
all of God's people,
looking towards eternity.
Verses 24 to 28
give us a picture
of God's people
enjoying everlasting
peace.
with a king
that is of like
David,
who will rule
forever in a place
that we will be in
forever.
With a God,
with God himself,
who promises
to dwell with us
forever.
The purpose
of this new life
that God
has given
to us,
dry bones,
is to enjoy
his presence
forever.
That we will live
in community
together
under one
Lord
and Saviour
and King
Jesus.
And to never,
ever again
be separated
from him
or from one
another.
Ephesians
captures
this central
theme of
oneness
quite well
in this chapter.
Verse 4
of chapter 4
in Ephesians
says,
there is one
body
and one
spirit,
just as you
were called
to one
hope
when you
were called,
one Lord,
one faith,
one baptism,
one God
and Father
of all,
who is over
all and
through all
and in all.
The great
hope of
our new
life is
that we
don't do
this new
life alone,
but in
community
with believers.
Right now,
under the
lordship of
Jesus,
we get to
enjoy
community
with the
promise
that as
God's
people,
we have
peace
with him
now,
that he
dwells
with us.
We get
to do
as the
Israelites
did in
Deuteronomy
12,
gather together
for worship,
our families,
our friends,
to rejoice
what the
lord has
done for
us,
experiencing
his blessing
as we
meet together,
encouraging
each other
and strengthening
each other,
reminding
each other
of the
hope that
we now
have in
Jesus,
that we
are no
longer
dead in
our sin,
that we
are no
longer
dry bones
and we
get the
promise that
never again
will we be
separated from
God or
from his
people,
never again
will we be
in this
death-like
state,
like dry
bones.
As verse
24 says,
they will
follow my
laws and
be careful
to keep
my decrees.
this new
life is
different to
before.
It is
guaranteed and
sustained by
God himself.
So God
gives us
new life
by his
word and
the shape of
this new
life is
this oneness
intrinsic to
this new
life is that
God's people
are brought
together to
be one,
to enjoy
and worship
God as
one people.
However,
we're in an
interesting
time.
We enjoy
this new
life now
since in
Christ we've
been made
alive.
We enjoy
the presence
of God in
life now
through the
Spirit.
We enjoy
new life,
but there's
still a sense
that we are
still scattered.
Christians are
all over the
world.
We're not all
in one place
at the one
time,
worshipping and
enjoying God's
presence.
We do enjoy
God's presence
as God's
people,
but we are
still persecuted
by those who
are not God's
people,
burdened by the
sinfulness of
the world,
indeed,
burdened by
our own
sinfulness.
And so it
can be
confusing.
It can feel
like we're
stuck in
between this
now and
not yet,
waiting for
this to all
be fulfilled,
but also
knowing and
enjoying the
benefits that
we already
have.
But something
has
definitively
changed.
We have
hope.
We have
hope.
We are no
longer dry
bones.
We are no
longer under
God's judgment.
We have
new life.
And with
new life
comes new
hope.
Hope for
the future.
For us
here who
struggle in
the present,
who feel
the weight
of sin,
who experience
the burden
of sin,
pain,
and suffering,
who feel
hopeless,
we must look
forward in
hope.
For what God
has started,
he finished at
the cross,
and it will
come to its
completion and
to its
perfection soon.
As Romans 5
reminds us,
not only so,
but we also
glory in our
sufferings because
we know that
suffering produces
perseverance,
perseverance
character,
and character
hope.
And hope
does not put
us to shame
because God's
love has been
poured out into
our hearts
through the
Holy Spirit
who has been
given to us.
This hope
did not come
from us.
It's not an
artificial hope.
It's not something
we conjured up
to dull our
pain and
suffering.
It's not a hope
like Michael
Clark based
on nothing.
This hope
comes from the
one who loved
us.
It comes from
God who
poured out his
love for us
by his Spirit
and gave us
new life.
When life is
hard, when we
go through
struggle, when
we stumble in
our sins and
fall, we
must look
forward to
that hope
and remember
the new
life and
the promise
that God
has given
us, that
he will never
separate from
us.
But also,
we should
look around
us, look
around here,
for what we
experience here
is a taste
of what is
to come.
This is what
Ezekiel 37
envisioned
right here.
New life,
as the
people of
God, in
the community
of God,
worshipping
God and
rejoicing with
each other
about what
God has
done, being
thankful
together.
That is
what's going
on in
Ezekiel 37.
And we
get to
partake in
this right
now.
To be one
people under
one Lord
Jesus, this
is the
tangible
expression of
our hope for
future today.
I wonder,
how urgent
are we to
gather here
as a
community?
Do we
come here
realising that
intrinsic to
the new
life that
God has
won for
us is
gathering as
one people?
Or do we
come here when
it suits us,
when it's not
cold?
Our weekly
gathering, as I
said, is a
tangible
expression of
what our
hope is for
the future.
When we are
gathered here
as one, with
the new
life that God
has given
us, we do
so in
hope, in
anticipation of
what is coming.
We're all of
God's people from
all over the
world, from
all times, will
be gathered
together at
the one time
and at the
one place,
worshipping the
one Lord
Jesus.
Indeed, the
place called
the Lord is
there.
Amen.
Let's take a
moment to let
those words
cement
themselves in
our hearts, in
our minds,
whatever it is
that God was
challenging or
encouraging you,
just take a
moment to
reflect on it
now.