Covenanter

Recently, I've been considering why it was that certain people simply refuse to submit to God on some of the simplest things. Why is it that the Bible can be so plain on something, and yet we just ignore it like it was never there, declaring either that there is some other meaning, or even more brazenly, "I'm just not convicted about that!" Let me give you an example. The other day, I was discussing the issue of music with someone when they said that God did not set a clear musical standard in the Bible. Now, when I saw that, I thought, "How could anyone be so ignorant?" But the answer came to me very quickly. It isn't that he is ignorant, it's that he doesn't want to know.
The sad truth is, that the majority of "Christians" will do what they want to do, caring very little, if at all, about what God thinks. They will not submit themselves to God as commanded in James 4:7. They will not humble themselves under God's hand as directed in verse 10 of the same chapter. Instead they stubbornly hold onto their own wants and desires, and in doing so they fall captive of the Devil, and get caught up in his snare. So let's look at James 4:7-10 and see how to make our will pliable to the able hands of the Master Potter.
Submit                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Submission is more of a decision than it is an action. If you will, it is an attitude of the heart. You have to come to a point where you decide, "Whatever God says, whatever God wants, that's what I want for my life. It's not about me, It's about God." The number one reason most Christians don't submit is that they can't see past their own wants and desires. We have spent so much time pleasing ourselves, that we don't know how to please anyone else. Resist                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Resisting the Devil in our life is the most active and most prominent part of a Christian's walk with God. The more you walk with God, the more you have to resist the Devil. It doesn't get easier, you simply learn priorities. You learn that pleasing God is more important than the "fun" you will have in submitting to the Devil. This is how you resist him, priorities. Draw nigh                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Getting close to God is the most important thing that a Christian can do. The Bible says in Galatians 5:16 "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." If you want to walk in the Spirit, you have to fill your life with things of the Spirit. How you begin your day will set the precedent for how your day will continue to go, so start it with things of the Spirit. How you continue your day will determine your successfulness for the day, so continue to fill your day with things of the Spirit. How you end your day will decide how well your next day will begin, so end it partaking of things of the Spirit. Read your Bible, pray, listen to Godly music, fellowship with other Christians, meditate on the things of God, for the Bible says, "...to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6) Humble yourself                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Day after day after day, humble yourself. It is a daily struggle to remember just how weak we are and just how much we need God. "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall." Remember from whence comes your strength. You don't stand in your own power, else you wouldn't be standing at all. I find that the greatest sin in any Christian's life is pride. Truly, it is pride that keeps us from submitting, it is pride that keeps us from resisting, it is pride that keeps us from drawing nigh. Somehow, we have gotten the idea that we are strong enough to handle our situation on our own. We need to look back and remember how weak we were when we got saved and then we need to realize that we are indeed, still that weak.  If we would simply let go of our stubborn will and submit to God's will, we would have no need to worry about the future, for it is in His hands. If we would just submit ourselves to God, we wouldn't have to worry about the present because He promised that He would take care of us. If we would just yield to Him, we wouldn't have to fret over the past, it's under the blood. With this being the case, I ask you, why would we want it any other way?

Text: Rom.16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

1Tim.4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

2Tim.1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

2Tim.2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

We claim to be Christians, followers of a specific way and teaching Jn.14: 6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. We claim to be guided by the unerring Word of God, the Bible. Yet it seems we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of history and repeatedly disregard the warnings of those in the faith that have gone before us.

We have a parallel in the history of the nation of Israel. We can see this parallel in the remarkable scriptures of Duet.1:2-15. An eleven day trip took them forty years! We can see a direct parallel between Israel’s relationship to God and our relationship to God…. how slowly we cover the ground! What winding and turning! How often we must go back and cover the same ground again and again. We are slow travelers because we are slow learners. We might marvel at their unbelief and slowness to OBey, but we, like them, are kept back by our own unbelief and slowness of heart.

The doctrine that we are to hold and pass on is the Word that we have received: The pure, unadulterated truth of God.

The Galatian Church is a negative case in point. Gal.3:1-4. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not OBey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Have ye suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain.
Saved by grace, but then allowing themselves to be seduced by a perversion of Scripture.

Deut.1:3. And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; Here is instruction for all who labor in the Word and doctrine:
Moses gave what he received from God, nothing more or less; this is the grand principal of the ministry, to bring people in direct contact with the Living Word of God.

The Apostle Paul makes this argument better than I can. 1Cor.2: 1-5. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1Cor.15: 1-3. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

The ‘so called’ church has wholly departed from the authority of the Word of God. In these churches, things are taught that have no foundation in the Scripture.
They not only tolerate, but sanction and defend that which is in direct opposition to the mind of Christ. He spoke of them in Mat.15:8-9.
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

If you ask for the Divine Authority for their institution or practice, you are told that God has left us free to act according to our conscience. It is considered that professing Christians are left free to form churches, choose their own form of government and appoint their own officers. Can this be true? Are we to assume that the church is worse off than Israel in instruction and authority?

We can see in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the marvelous pains God took to instruct His people in even the minutest particulars concerning their worship and private life. Nothing was left to human arrangement. Man’s wisdom, judgment, reason and conscience had no part in it. There was no place for, “I can’t see this, or, I can’t go with that, or, I can’t agree that this is so.” Such language could only be regarded as self-will, for in that day all the instruction came with, “Thus saith the Lord.” They might as well say they could not agree with God. Are we left to think and arrange for ourselves in worship and service to God? I think not! 1Tim.3: 14-15. These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
He then goes on to show how things ought to be done by believers.

Why are there different doctrines among professing churches? We have
possession of God’s Word. We also have division, sects, creeds and denominations,
Why? Because they refuse to submit their whole moral being to the authority of the Scripture. Free exercise of thought is the boast of Protestant Christianity.

Such thinking will not stand at the Judgment. Mat.7: 21-23. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The duty of the servant is to OBey, not to exercise his will. The confusion between so-called churches is due to an unwillingness to bow to Divine Authority.

Mat.7:28. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

It is impossible for the Holy Scripture to teach opposing doctrines. It cannot possibly teach the doctrines of Catholic, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Church of Christ and Baptist….they oppose one another!

Let’s look at a direct command in the name of Jesus for unity. 1Cor. 1:10. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

The so-called “church”, has departed from the authority of Christ long ago. They gave themselves over to man’s reasoning, feelings and religious perversion. They did not heed the teaching of Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

It is every Christian’s sacred duty to test every ecclesiastical system by the Word of God. If we have no Divine authority, no perfect standard, how can we be certain that we are on the true path?

All that claim to be His church cannot justify the confusion of doctrines that they hold true. 1Cor.14:33. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

If God is not the author of this confusion, then who is? Jas 3:16. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

If we cannot say that “this is the thing that the Lord has commanded”, then we are in error.
If a church or religious organization is not in subjection to God as revealed in His Word, what and to whom are they in subjection to? There are only two powers in this world, the power of God and the power of Satan. Satan is the master of deception and mimicry and his masterpiece of all time deception is a false religious system.

Rom.16:17-18. Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

What kind of doctrine has God won your heart with? Can you go on to perfection with an opposing doctrine having once known the truth? Rom.6: 17. But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have OBeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

The religious liberals will say that there is some good in all churches. My answer is that there is good grain in rat poison too, but it only takes a small amount of poison mixed in with the grain to kill the rat. Any Christian that thinks that he can take what good there is and leave the bad, is ignorant of the nature of evil. Make no mistake; that which is contrary to God’s Word is not of God! 1Cor.10:21,

Daniel 9

“And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:” (v. 3)

One cannot say enough about the importance and the effectiveness of prayer. Much of the first 19 verses record a beautiful prayer by Daniel (from verse 3 to v. 19); a prayer of humility and confession; a prayer for the nation as well as for himself. We would do well to read this prayer again and again, and put America in there where Israel is, and realize that the hope for our country and for each individual is the Lord Himself. He is our only hope. We have seen that Daniel was indeed a man of prayer, praying three times a day toward Jerusalem, and that the Lord was pleased with his habit of praying. It is in this that we realize a close walk with the Lord; in the “prayer closet”. We will never amount to anything, nor accomplish anything for the Lord until we make prayer a regular part of our day, every day. There is much for the futurist here; much for the speculative that seeks to know prophecy, and yet we seem to miss the vital thread of prayer. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says it all: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” It is time we bent the knee in prayer. Say what you will, but the message here is prayer. There are many good, logical sounding arguments for getting involved in the political process, but God says that the hope for our country is prayer, and that is all. The prayer of God's children, specifically, and the testimony of the same. We fail to see our value as Christians; we fail to see the value of prayer. Daniel’s success lies in the time he spent in prayer. His walk with the Lord is contingent upon the time he spent in prayer, and, by the way, so it is with us. The hope for America is only in seeking the Lord, and diligently and desperately bending the knee in prayer. The angel Gabriel told Daniel that he was “greatly beloved” of the Lord, (v. 23), and the blessing came while Daniel was yet praying (v. 21).

Daniel “set” his face unto the Lord. This speaks of determination, as when Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem (Lk. 9:51). This determination comes from the relationship we have with Christ. Our love for Him will prompt us to be determined to pray. If we have trouble with our prayer life, the prOBlem is in our “love” life! We do not love the Lord properly or proportionately. This is hard for us to see, but nevertheless it is true. Every prOBlem we have is, in fact, a “love” prOBlem; a prayer prOBlem. If we love the Lord properly, we will do what He asks of us willingly and gladly.

Ezekiel 37 Cranford May 22, 2011
Read Psalm 98
31 Sing to God (Ps 98)
Prayer
Notices
Children
918 He is Lord
Sheet – Prabhu hai - if Mrs Gill present
Ezekiel 37:1-14 English, then Urdu if Mrs Gill present
399 Revive thy work
Sermon
398 O breath of life

Children
Wind, breath & spirt

1. Introduction to Ezekiel's prophecy
2. The vision of the valley of dry bones
3. The message of the vision
4. What Jesus taught about spiritual life from the dead.
5. The resurrection at the day of judgement.
6. Eternal life – for us.

Introduction to Ezekiel's prophecy
ROBin has asked to to preach from Ezekiel 37, where Ezekiel is commanded to preach to a valley of dry bones.
Before we look at the chapter, we need to look at the context.
Ezek. 1:1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
The book begins when Ez was 30 years old - the age when a Jewish priest began his service in the temple at Jerusalem.
Temple service was not possible for Ez - the country had been defeated by the Babylonians, & he had been taken to that country along with many other young men. We read of some of them in the book of Daniel.
This happened about 600 years before the birth of Jesus, & 400 years after the great kings, David & Solomon had ruled the land.
They had had wonderful times of blessing during the time of the kings David & Solomon, when a glorious temple was built to replace the tabernacle they had built in the wilderness, & carried with them wherever they went.
However, the people of Israel had turned away from the living God & were worshipping other gods & had made idols like the nations around them.
God sent prophets to warn them, and allowed other nations to defeat them when they did not turn back to God.
This happened many times until Jerusalem was captured & the temple was destroyed. The temple treasures were carried away to Babylon.
At that time many of the people of Israel were carried away also, to serve the Babylonians.
The prophet Jeremiah told them they would stay in Babylon for 70 years. Many would live & die there & never see Jerusalem again.
Jeremiah was the prophet who taught the people who stayed in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel was the prophet who taught the people in exile in Babylon.
The vision of the valley of dry bones was for the exiles.

The vision of the valley of dry bones
Eze 37: 1 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,
 2And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
 3And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
 4Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

Ez has a vision of a battle-field when the dead bodies lie where they fell. The animals & birds have eaten the flesh & the sun has dried the bones.
The LORD asks Ez if the bones can live, & commands Ez to preach to them.
Ez believes God. He knows God can make the dead live, & he OBeys the command to preach to them. As he preaches, so the bones come together & they are covered with flesh & skin.

5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
 6And 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.
 7So 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.
 8And 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.

Breathing shows we are alive - while we live, we breathe. First aid for people who appear dead is to breathe into their mouths. We call it "the kiss of life." Countless people are alive today who would have died.
The people in the valley have their bodies restored, but they are still dead. They are not breathing.
They need one more command, & that is not to the bodies but to the wind to give them breath.

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.
 10So 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.

The vision of the dead coming to life is a wonderful sight. We believe in the resurrection of the dead. We will die, & will rise again we Jesus returns in glory.
Ez sees God doing the impossible - & he believes. Do we?
Jesus died & rose again, & we believe through his death & resurrection, all our sins can be forgiven.
We will stand before a holy God on that judgement day, & be welcomed into a wonderful NH&NE where nothing & no-one sinful can ever enter.
That Gospel promise is for all who OBey the command to repent - to turn from our sin - & believe in Jesus as our God & Saviour, who died to bear the punishment our sins deserve.

The message of the vision
Back to Ez - & we find the vision is not about the distant future resurrection of the dead, but for the people living in exile. They have lost all hope of returning to their own country.
They remember all the promises of God to the nation given to Abraham.
They remember all the blessings of the past centuries, & they know only the misery of exile.
They think they are dead to the promises of God to the people of Israel.
Ez gives them God's message of hope & a blessed future.

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.
 12Therefore 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.
 13And 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,
 14And 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.

In the vision, the breath of God gave life to the dead in the valley of dry bones. The message for the people is life to those who believe they are dead to all the promises of God.
God will keep his promises. He will bring the people back to the promised land, to worship him in a rebuilt temple.

Read on in Ez 37 to see that 'David' will be their king for ever. The NT tells us that that promised king is the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the people of Israel are all those who believe in Jesus as Lord & Saviour.
Graham Kendrick was thinking of these verses when he wrote:

Rejoice, rejoice, Christ is in you;
The hope of glory in your hearts.
He lives, he lives, his breath is in you;
Arise, a mighty army - we arise!

We have the Holy Spirit of God within us giving us eternal life & eternal hope. As we live our Christian lives, we need to keep in step with the Holy Spirit. God's purpose in Ez's vision is for our encouragement & blessing.

We will move on to the NT to see what Jesus taught about spiritual life from the dead.
John 5: 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
 25Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
 26For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
 27And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Spiritually, before repentance we are all dead. Dead in sin, & condemned to hell for our sin. We must be born again, born again by the Spirit of God as Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3.
When we turn from our sin & OBey the word of Jesus that his Father God has sent him to be our Saviour, we cross over from death to life.
Our new, spiritual life begins. We become alive to God.
That eternal life begins in this life. Hear again v. 25:
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

Paul quotes Isaiah (49) when he writes: I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Cor. 6:2.

The Jews of Ez' time had rejected the warnings of the prophets. They suffered the judgement of God. Dare we reject the words of Jesus, the Son of God? How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; Heb. 2:3

The resurrection at the day of judgement.
What is there to escape from? Jesus continues in John 5:28
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
 29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

There is a day of resurrection coming. Jesus will come again to judge the living & the dead. No-one will escape the judgement of God by dying. The criminal who commits suicide rather than face the judgement of the court will stand in judgement before a holy God. I'll read again:
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
 29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Eternal life – for us.
When we turn from our sin, & believe in Jesus as our Lord & Saviour we begin spiritual life – eternal life. We are saved for eternity because Jesus suffered the judgement of God in our place when he died on the cross.
He showed his victory over death by rising again.
We share that victory when we begin our spiritual life by repentance & faith in Jesus.
May we all know that spiritual life, that resurrection life, through a living faith in Jesus.
Amen.

Our last hymn is a prayer for spiritual life, for the Holy Spirit of God to sweep through us & his church on earth.
386 O breath of life come sweeping through us