A revival of hope

I. Admit our condition

* We must confess our hopeless condition!

  1. 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. 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 37:1, 2).
  2. 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'" (Ezekiel 37:11; see Ephesians 2:1-5).

II. Proclaim God's word

* We must hear the word of the Lord!

  1. He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, You know." Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord' (Ezekiel 37:3, 4).
  2. My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word (Psalm 119:25).
  3. 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 (Ezekiel 37:7, 8).

III. Receive God's spirit

* We must be born again of the Spirit!

  1. 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 . . . "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' " (Ezek. 37:10, 14).
  2. Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water" (John 4:10).
  3. Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).

Sermon by Pastor Rod Akins, April 26th, 2020