Ezekiel 37:9 Then said he to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus said the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds… I. LET US LOOK AT THE SURROUNDING SCENE AND SEE IF THAT DOES NOT SAY TO US WE MUST HAVE THE HOLY GHOST. What was the scene that met Ezekiel's eyes? We must note this, because we purpose to make what I think will be a legitimate use of the vision. When Ezekiel looked abroad, he saw human nature wrecked, and I pray you mark it — not human nature rather spoiled of its beauty — not human nature sick — not human nature dying — but human nature dead — nay, more, dead and dislocated. When he looked abroad, it was human nature wrecked and ruined. The bones were scattered. They were so completely scattered, and death had so done its work, that they were beyond the power of human recognition, and beyond the power of human reconstruction. Oh, when we look around, what is the sight that meets the eye? Is it not identically the same as that which met the gaze of Ezekiel? I know there are some who seem to look at the world through a medium you and I know nothing about. I cannot say where they get their rose tint from, but to their eyes there is something of beauty and spiritual worth left in man. When man fell it was such a fall that he did not merely bruise himself: he broke his nature to pieces; and now sin has laid low the very framework of our being, and from head to foot there is not one part that has not suffered by the fatal fail The affections, the memory, all the powers of man, are lying prostrated. I said that it would have been difficult for anyone to recognise in those bones the men who once walked to battle. Am I going too far when I say that it must be almost as difficult for the angels, when they look down on earth, to recognise, in the specimens of humanity they see now, man as first he came from the Creator's hands? And methinks that when they now look down and see some of the bloated drunkards that reel through our streets, the brazen-faced fallen ones that flaunt along our thoroughfares — when they look at the debauched and the debased specimens of mankind to be found on every hand, they say, "In these it is difficult to recognise man as he came from the Creator's hands." No oratory, no eloquence, no human power; no church machinery, can avail aught. "Come, O breath," for the ease is too desperate for human wisdom or for human might,. If you look at the passage, you will see that Ezekiel was not allowed to shut his eyes to the true state of the case. "And the Lord caused me to pass by them round about." He was not to look at them from a distance. In order to realise the fact, Ezekiel had to take one of the most ghastly walks that I can imagine ever mortal man took. Why? That he might realise the desperate condition. I am afraid there are a good many professing Christians living in a fool's paradise. Talk to them about sin, and they say, "Oh, but these thinks are so sad; I would really rather not hear about them." Sir, will your ignoring a fact alter it? Will your shutting your eyes to festering sores heal them? The Lord said to Ezekiel, "Go round about these bones, and take in the scene." Ay, they are very many. Why, take London alone, and you have to say, "O God, they are very many." London is more than a match for the church. We have to cry concerning the metropolis, "Come, O breath." But let your eyes go farther afield, taking in our large provincial towns — our manufacturing centres. Oh, how the people hive — how they swarm in them! Take our Liverpools and our Manchesters. Go, ask concerning the history of some of those places, and you will have then to cry, "Come, O breath, for the case is desperate. The bones are many." But stay, I am only talking about a Christian country now. You have to flit across the channel. How about the millions who are swathed in the darkness of superstition? Pass on farther yet to China. There you realise it. Do you know that every third man in the world is a Chinese? Do you know that every third woman in the world is a Chinese woman, and that every third child born into the world is a Chinese child? You may well say, "O God, they are very many." "And they were very dry" — no marrow, no sap left, nothing in them that could be cultivated into life. And that is the case with the world at large. Now where is your power to meet the case? Surely this view of the surroundings must drive you to the conclusion that the only one power which can meet the case is the power from on high. "Come, O breath, for the bones are many, and the bones are dry." II. THE DEEP NEED OF THE SPIRIT'S POWER IS DEMONSTRATED IN THE SCENE THAT MET THE EYE AFTER THE PREACHING. We have only looked at the valley as it was before Ezekiel began to preach. Now let us see how it appeared after his sermon. 1. I note, first, that Ezekiel did preach. Preaching always has been the great agency of God for the ingathering of souls; and none of us must stand aloof and say, "What is the good of preaching to sinners who are in such a condition as you have described?" God said unto Ezekiel, "Go, prophesy unto dry bones," and he said, "I prophesied as I was commanded." And the work of the Church of Christ is not to argue — not to ask the reason why, but to obey her Lord's command, and send her hosts out in the great valley of dry bones, and preach everywhere. And do you observe what he preached about? He preached about the grand essentials. If you read through his short sermon to the bones, it was all about life. Ah, that was what they wanted. Ezekiel did not waste his time in talking about a number of things that could not possibly concern dry bones. He saw death: he preached life. He saw ruin: he preached remedy. Semi-political sermons to poor dry bones? Evening entertainments for dry bones? Magnificent essays, that smell of the oil of the midnight lamp but know nothing of unction, for dry bones? Ye Ezekiels of God in the valley of death, if you preach, preach the grand essentials — life, cleansing, God's power unto salvation. Here is the theme to proclaim. 2. Now, notice, he did it, and what was the result? "There was a noise." That is not always a sign of the presence of God. You cannot always say there is a revival going on because there is a considerable amount of excitement. If any man likes he can create a certain excitement. There may be noise and no power. The Lord was not in the earthquake that rent the rocks. The Lord was not in the wind that roared around the cave. The Lord was in the still small voice. You must not always say, "Oh, there was wonderful power, because there was a great noise." More than that, there was a coming together. The bones all came bone to bone. Well, he would be a strange preacher who did not feel a sense of pleasure in seeing people brought round about him to hear the word. Thank God for great gatherings of people, because the first step towards salvation is generally the coming beneath, the sound of the word. But, let us remember, large congregations do not necessarily prove the presence of God. We may have crowds of people coming together, and yet no spiritual result. Then there was an external improvement. After Ezekiel's sermon the valley did not look as ghastly as it did before. Instead of dislocated bones there were, first, skeletons. And then I read that on the bones there came flesh, and over the flesh there came skin. Do you see what Ezekiel's preaching had done? It had made them look a great deal more respectable. Ay, preaching can do that apart from the power of the Holy Ghost. The drunkard may be led to give up his cup: the profane man may be led to forsake his oaths: the unchaste may be made to live a pure life, and homes may be revolutionised. There may be a very great deal of moral improvement, and yet there is need to add the sentence — you find it in the 8th verse, the latter clause — "but there was no breath in them." They were better looking, but they were just as dead. And so you may have moral improvement without any spiritual life. III. Let us, then, APTLY TO EZEKIEL'S RESORT. It must have been a grand sight. Ezekiel had been preaching, and thus far he had been gazing at the bones, I suppose, in the same sort of way as I have been gazing upon this congregation, and he had seen a marvellous change. Now, do you see the man of God? He does not look at his congregation any longer. He has nothing more to do with them. He has finished his preaching. He turns to praying. I see him lift up his eyes to heaven, surrounded as he was with corpses, and he cries, "Come, O breath of God. Come and breathe upon these slain." He had reached his boundary line. He had done all he could do. He preached as commanded: now he leaves results with the Spirit of God. Do you note with what wonderful faith he prayed? It is not the language of faltering belief mixed with unbelief. It is "Come, O breath of God." He has no doubt that it will come. Why? Because he had a "Thus saith the Lord." The Lord had told him to call upon the wind, and therefore he knew it would come. When you and I are asking for temporal mercies it will be well for us not to be too importunate. But when we come to ask for the Spirit's power we can dare to be bold. Here is a promise: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask." Church of God, ye need not tremble as you breathe the prayer. I want you to note one element of faith in Ezekiel which it will be well for us to follow. Do you see what unbounded faith he had in the power of the Spirit? Let me read the words to you. "Come, O breath," and do what? "and breathe upon these slain, and they shall live." We are almost ready to say, "What, Ezekiel, do you think it will be as easy for the Spirit of God to raise up all these corpses as it is for you to breathe? Yes," Ezekiel would have said, "I may preach, and I may cry, and I may wear myself out. I can do nothing, but all the Holy Ghost has to do is just to breathe." Oh the magnificent ease expressed in the sentence — "breathe upon these slain." Mother, though that son of yours may have heard every evangelist and every preacher in England, the Holy Ghost has only to breathe and he shall live. Oh, let us get back to our simple faith in the mighty power of the Holy Ghost. I fear me that the Spirit is too often dishonoured — too often ignored. (A. G. Brown.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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