3ABN On the Road

The Valley Of Dry Bones

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Mark Howard

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000874


01:00 Well, good morning. Good morning.
01:03 How many of you were here last night?
01:05 Okay, did you receive a blessing?
01:07 Yes. Okay, now last night...
01:09 Dwight Hall spoke to us about the valley of dead trees.
01:14 You remember that?
01:15 And this morning we're going to speak about
01:17 the valley of dry bones.
01:19 Now how many of know what I am talking about
01:21 when I say the valley of dry bones?
01:22 Okay, a number of you do.
01:24 It actually is picked up from a story
01:26 in the Bible in Ezekiel 37.
01:29 And I was talking with David Berthiaume
01:31 before this rally started.
01:33 And he said, you know, the valley of the dry bones.
01:35 We were trying to think of a title something
01:36 that would grab people's interest,
01:38 you know, "What kind title can we give it,
01:40 valley of dry bones sounds kind of plain."
01:43 "And I said how about Middle East massacre?"
01:46 And you'll see why I chose that in a minute
01:49 but David didn't think that would be the best idea.
01:52 So I said you pick the title
01:53 and we stuck with valley of dry bones.
01:57 But in fact, that's exactly what we see
01:59 when we open the Bible to Ezekiel 37.
02:01 And before we do that, I'm going to kneel
02:05 and ask God's special blessing on this time we have.
02:08 And I'm going to ask you to kneel as far as possible.
02:10 And I'll tell you there's two reasons for that.
02:12 The one reason, it's not the primary reason
02:14 is that it helps our circulation
02:16 so we stay awake,
02:17 that's really not the primary reason.
02:19 The primary reason is that when we kneel before the Lord,
02:23 it reminds us that we're the creature
02:25 and He is the creator.
02:27 It reminds us that we're here to learn of Him.
02:29 And it reminds us and it reminds me as a speaker
02:32 that if I'm speaking my words,
02:33 it's not going to do you any good.
02:34 We want the Lord's presence.
02:36 We want His words spoken this morning.
02:38 So if you will do that kneel as far as possible with me
02:41 as we invoke the Lord's blessing this morning.
02:48 Our gracious Heavenly Father, Father we want to praise You
02:54 that we can come together
02:56 and open our Bibles this morning.
02:58 We think of Africa
02:59 where so many don't have Bibles.
03:01 There are other parts of the world
03:03 where people don't have the Bibles
03:04 and the freedom that we have here this morning.
03:08 Father, now may we take advantage
03:12 of these Bibles that we have,
03:13 of this freedom to worship that we have,
03:15 we pray that your Holy Spirit would be present.
03:18 And as we open Your Word
03:21 that that Spirit that inspired the Word
03:23 would inspire our hearts and minds today.
03:25 And we ask and pray this
03:26 in the all powerful name of Jesus,
03:28 and for His sake.
03:29 Amen.
03:36 You know, the main reason for these rallies
03:39 is the Bibles for Africa project.
03:41 And I think, you know, some people may say,
03:43 "We know in Africa there are a lot of needs over there."
03:45 Of course, Dwight mentioned last night the AIDS epidemic.
03:49 There are physical needs that may need to be met,
03:51 and people may say, "Well, why Bibles?
03:54 I mean you could send a number of things over there.
03:56 I'm sure the people in Africa need lots of things,
03:58 why Bibles?"
03:59 Let me tell you something.
04:01 The Bible can do what nothing else can do.
04:04 We talked about miracles last night,
04:06 the greatest miracle, the greatest miracles,
04:09 the miracle of a transformed life.
04:11 And I want to tell you this morning
04:12 that the Word of God can change lives.
04:15 And that's our hope and desire
04:17 because if people in the continent of Africa
04:19 can hear the Word
04:21 can have their lives transformed,
04:22 they have an eternity with Jesus
04:24 and something far better than this world can ever offer.
04:28 And we're going to see that transforming power of the Word
04:32 if you go with me to the book of Ezekiel
04:34 in the Old Testament.
04:36 Ezekiel, if you take your Bible and open it in the middle,
04:39 most Bibles come right around some of the book of the Psalms
04:42 or in the book of Isaiah.
04:44 If you were come to Isaiah, which is a pretty book
04:46 to find the Old Testament, after that you have Jeremiah,
04:48 then Lamentations, then Ezekiel.
04:52 And we're going to go to Ezekiel 37,
04:57 Ezekiel chapter 37
04:59 and starting with the first verse.
05:03 Incidentally, throughout this weekend,
05:06 you know, we want you to give your Bibles
05:08 and donate Bibles
05:09 but please keep one for yourself
05:12 and bring it because we want you to be a...
05:15 You know, that one preacher said...
05:16 I'm sure there are other preachers
05:17 that have said the same thing.
05:19 "You got to know your Bible well enough to know
05:20 if your minister is misquoting it."
05:23 We've got to have our Bibles
05:24 and we'd be following along in the Bibles
05:25 because it's the Word that changes lives.
05:27 Now Ezekiel 37:1, this is how it starts,
05:32 "The hand of the Lord came upon me
05:34 and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord.
05:37 And set me down in the midst of the valley
05:40 and it was full of," what?
05:41 Bones. "Full of bones.
05:43 Then He caused me to pass by them all around
05:46 and behold there were very many in the open valley
05:49 and indeed they were," what?
05:51 Very dry. "Very dry."
05:53 Now get the picture, here is the Prophet Ezekiel.
05:54 God brings him out into this valley
05:56 and these bones are scattered.
05:59 In fact, it's says there... What was that in verse...
06:05 in verse 2 it says,
06:06 "There were very many in the open valley."
06:09 The New American Standard Bible says
06:11 they were on the surface of the valley.
06:15 There had been a massacre.
06:17 There had been a war and, you know,
06:18 when there were these...
06:20 This was a time of war
06:21 when people would fight and battle,
06:22 they didn't bury all the dead,
06:24 the enemy soldiers didn't go bury all the dead.
06:26 They laid on the surface of the ground.
06:27 Ezekiel comes on the scene, and he sees these bones.
06:32 There's no rotting flesh on the bones,
06:33 these bones are dry, they're very dry.
06:35 They have been there for a long time.
06:41 And then the Lord asked the question in verse 3,
06:43 "And He said to me,
06:45 'Son of man, can these bones live?'
06:51 And so I answered, 'Oh, Lord God, You know."'
06:56 He comes and sees a valley of bones of dead people,
06:59 these bones are sun bleached.
07:01 They have been there for a long, long time.
07:03 And God says, "Ezekiel, can these bones live?"
07:07 What would you say?
07:09 Can these bones live?
07:11 Some of these people have been dead for a long time.
07:15 "Lord, only You know."
07:19 And then the Lord says, verse 4,
07:22 "Again He said to me, 'prophesy to these bones."'
07:26 Now you know what it means to prophesy?
07:30 To prophesy means to speak the Word of the Lord.
07:34 When a prophet would prophesy,
07:35 he was simply giving a message from God to the people.
07:39 God says, "Ezekiel, I want you to prophesy
07:42 to these bones and say to them,
07:44 'Oh, dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord."'
07:53 You know, there's a lot of time...
07:56 Many times go by probably in your life
07:58 you've experienced it, in my life I've experienced it,
08:01 where the Lord wants to send you
08:02 and share the good news of salvation with somebody.
08:05 And you say, "Lord, these bones can't live."
08:11 God says, "Ezekiel, prophesy to the bones."
08:13 Now I'm a minister, and I'm thinking to myself,
08:17 "How would I feel if God were to tell me
08:19 to go speak to a pile of bones?
08:24 There's a waste of time, a colossal waste of time.
08:26 Here is a big pile of bones." "Yes, speak to these."
08:29 "Okay, Lord, whatever You say." Ezekiel goes for it.
08:31 God says, "Prophesy to them, speak My Word to them.
08:34 Tell the dry bones hear the Word of the Lord."
08:37 Okay, Lord, I guess I'll go ahead
08:39 and do what You say.
08:40 But I don't know how this is going to work.
08:42 Verse 5.
08:44 "Thus says the Lord God to these bones,
08:46 'Surely I will cause breath to enter you
08:49 and you shall live.
08:51 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you,
08:55 cover you with skin and put breath in you.
08:57 And you shall live.
08:59 Then you shall know that I am the Lord.'
09:04 So I prophesied as I was commanded.
09:07 And as I prophesied, there was a noise
09:10 and suddenly a rattling
09:12 and the bones came together, bone to bone.
09:16 Indeed as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came over them.
09:19 And the skin was covered over them
09:21 but there was no breath in them."
09:24 Verse 9.
09:26 "Also He said to me prophesy to the breath,
09:28 prophesy, son of man.
09:34 And say to the breath, thus says the Lord God,
09:37 'Come from the four winds, O breath,
09:39 and breathe on these slain, that they may live.'
09:42 So I prophesied as He commanded me,
09:44 and breath came into them, and they," what?
09:47 "And they lived and stood upon their feet,
09:50 an exceedingly great army."
09:55 Verse 11, "Then He said to me,
09:58 'Son of man, these bones are," what?
10:03 "The whole house of Israel.
10:06 They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry,
10:08 our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off.'
10:14 Therefore prophesy and say to them,
10:17 thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, O my people,
10:20 I will open your graves
10:22 and cause you to come up from your graves
10:24 and bring you into the land of Israel.
10:26 Then you shall know that I am the Lord
10:28 when I have opened your graves, O my people,
10:31 and brought you up from your graves.
10:33 I will put My Spirit in you and you shall live.
10:42 And I will place you in your own land,
10:44 then you shall know that I, the Lord,
10:47 have spoken it and performed it,'
10:49 says the Lord."
10:52 Fascinating little passage of scripture.
10:56 And we're going to expound on this this morning
11:01 and see what lessons we can draw
11:04 from this experience of the Prophet Ezekiel.
11:07 Now the first thing I want to touch on,
11:10 and it may or may not be necessary,
11:12 but we're going to touch on it anyway.
11:15 There are a couple things in here,
11:16 God says of course in verse 11 that we just read,
11:19 "Son of man, these bones are the," what?
11:22 "Whole house of Israel."
11:24 And I just have to put something
11:25 to rest in the event that anybody here
11:26 has not gotten the picture yet,
11:28 some people read this
11:30 and I know that there are people
11:31 who read this today and they say,
11:32 "Well, this is an interesting prophecy
11:34 but it has nothing to do with us today.
11:36 The only thing it has anything to do with
11:38 are people that live in Israel or who are natural born Jews."
11:44 It's speaking to the whole house of Israel.
11:46 I mean God goes on there to say in verses 13 and 14,
11:49 "I'm going to bring you into your own land."
11:53 Actually 12 to 14, He says,
11:55 "I'm going to bring you into the land of Israel."
11:58 Verse 14 says, "I'm going to bring you
12:00 into your own land, place you in your own land."
12:04 And I want you to understand
12:05 what the Lord is really trying to say here.
12:07 Now we're there in chapter 37,
12:09 I want you to notice again the wording that God uses.
12:15 In verse 11, He says, "These bones are the," what?
12:20 "The whole house of Israel."
12:23 Now on the one hand, you have to understand
12:26 that Israel had been divided.
12:30 Prior to this, Israel had been divided into two kingdoms,
12:32 the Northern kingdom that was made up of 10 tribes
12:35 and then you have the Southern kingdom of Judah
12:36 that was the remainder.
12:41 But I want you to see something interesting
12:43 in the same book of Ezekiel.
12:45 Chapter 36, just go back one chapter
12:48 and look at verse 8 with me, chapter 36:8.
12:56 Notice what the Lord says here,
13:00 "But you, O mountains of Israel,
13:04 you shall shoot forth your," what?
13:05 Branches.
13:07 "Branches and yield your," what?
13:08 Fruit. "Fruit."
13:10 And that's going to become significant in a moment.
13:11 "To my people Israel, for they are about to come,
13:16 for indeed, I am for you."
13:22 I want us to pause there and I want to us remember
13:24 something this morning.
13:25 The Apostle Paul says in the book of Romans,
13:27 "If God is for us, who can be," what?
13:29 Against. "Against us."
13:31 For neither life, nor death, no principalities,
13:33 powers, or anything else
13:34 can separate us from the love of God.
13:37 Something we have to remember as Christians
13:40 is that God is for us
13:43 because there are times in your life
13:44 where you will feel like God is not going to be willing
13:46 to help you even if you were to ask Him.
13:49 It says here in verse 9, "For indeed,
13:53 I am for you and I will turn to you
13:58 and you shall be tilled and sown."
14:00 Notice verse 10, "I will multiply men upon you
14:06 all the house of Israel, all of it.
14:11 And the city shall be inhabited and ruins rebuilt."
14:15 "I will multiply men to you."
14:17 Now keep that in mind,
14:21 as we go to the book of Isaiah.
14:23 Go back before Ezekiel, before Lamentations,
14:27 before Jeremiah, and to the book of Isaiah.
14:29 We're going to Isaiah 56.
14:39 Isaiah 56:6.
14:46 Now Dwight had done,
14:48 I'm not even going to pick on Dwight.
14:50 But sometimes I've been in this habit of saying,
14:52 you know, if you're there, say amen.
14:54 And what people have let me know is that
14:57 it's always the fast people that get there and say amen.
15:01 And so I say if you're there, say amen,
15:02 and a couple of people say amen, I say okay,
15:04 let's start reading and the rest of the people
15:05 are flipping their pages.
15:08 So I've tried to go away from asking people
15:10 if they are there, say amen,
15:11 and just listening for the pages
15:13 to stop turning so you can get there.
15:16 We're in Isaiah 56, and I want you to notice
15:21 what the Lord says in verse 6, "Also the sons of the," what?
15:27 Stranger.
15:28 "Stranger or foreigner,"
15:29 it says foreigner in my translation here.
15:31 Now God is speaking about Israel
15:33 but now He is speaking of those beyond Israel,
15:35 the foreigners to Israel,
15:36 the strangers to Israel i.e. the gentiles.
15:40 "Also the sons of the foreigners
15:41 who joined themselves to the Lord to serve Him
15:44 and to love the name of the Lord to be His servants.
15:47 Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath
15:50 and holds fast my covenant even them I will bring
15:54 to my holy mountain
15:55 and make them joyful in my house of prayer."
15:58 Who's He going to bring into His holy mountain?
16:01 The gentiles, the foreigners, the strangers to Israel.
16:06 The Old Testament is full of promises to the gentiles.
16:15 Incidentally, how many are natural born Jews here today?
16:20 Okay, I don't see any hands. That means we're all gentiles.
16:23 That means this is good news for me and you.
16:25 Amen.
16:26 Because otherwise we have part in the blessings of God.
16:29 This is why I want to review this
16:31 because if we have no parts in the blessing of God,
16:33 Ezekiel 37 has nothing to do with us
16:35 because it's to the whole house of Israel.
16:37 Now notice what He goes on to say.
16:43 Verse 7, "Even them I will bring
16:45 to My holy mountain
16:46 and make them joyful in My house of prayer.
16:48 Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
16:50 will be accepted on My altar.
16:51 For My house shall be called a house of prayer for," what?
16:56 "All nations.
16:57 The Lord God who gathers the outcast of Israel says,
17:01 'Yet I will gather to Him that is Israel,
17:05 others besides those who are gathered to Him."
17:09 That is a promise where God is saying
17:11 I'm going to take those from the outside
17:13 and I'm going to bring them in too.
17:15 Salvation is not just going to go to natural born Jews,
17:19 it's going to extend to everyone.
17:22 Are you following me so far? Yes.
17:24 Now let's take some of the virtues
17:26 we looked at there, we're going to go
17:27 to the New Testament, book of Romans.
17:33 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans
17:36 in the New Testament, Romans chapter 11.
17:39 Romans chapter 11,
17:44 and we're going to begin in verse 21.
17:48 Now in Romans 11,
17:50 God is portraying the nation of Israel
17:55 as a tree with branches and fruit.
18:00 Did we just see that?
18:02 In Ezekiel 36, He talks about the tree
18:05 and the branches and the fruit.
18:07 Now notice what the Apostle Paul does here.
18:16 Verse 21, "For if God did not spare
18:21 the natural branches, He may not spare you either."
18:25 Now we're kind of in the middle of His presentation
18:28 but what He is saying here is
18:30 that they are the natural braches of the tree,
18:32 those are the natural born Israelites.
18:35 But, you know, the natural born Israelites were cut off
18:38 when they refused to accept Christ.
18:41 And so the gentiles are saying, "Hey, now salvation is to us."
18:44 And Paul is just saying, "Hey, you gentiles
18:45 don't get too big for branches,
18:47 if the natural born branches got cut off,
18:48 you could get cut off too."
18:52 Verse 22, "Therefore consider the goodness
18:55 and severity of God, on those who fail severity
18:58 but toward you, gentiles, goodness.
19:00 If you continue in this goodness,
19:02 otherwise you also will be cut off.
19:05 And they also,
19:06 if they do not continue in," what?
19:09 Unbelief. "Unbelief."
19:10 Unbelief of what? Unbelief of Jesus Christ.
19:14 Listen to me.
19:16 There is not going to be anybody saved, you or gentile,
19:18 who don't believe in Jesus Christ.
19:21 The Bible says in Acts 4:12, "There is only one name
19:24 given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved."
19:27 I've had people today tell me whether it's a Jew, or Jews,
19:29 or natural born Jews, they should be saved.
19:31 Some people say, "Well, Buddhists and Hindus,
19:34 I mean they are sincere people
19:35 and they are going to be saved."
19:36 Look there is one name given under heaven among men.
19:40 Amen.
19:41 You know what that ought to prompt us to?
19:43 That'd prompt us with a burning desire
19:46 to let people know about Jesus who don't know about Him.
19:49 They need to hear the name.
19:53 Paul says, "If those Jews who didn't believe in Jesus
19:58 don't continue in their unbelief,
20:01 they too can be saved.
20:03 For they will be grafted in,
20:05 God is able to graft them in again."
20:08 Remember He is talking about a tree,
20:10 and that tree is Israel.
20:11 And those who have been cut off,
20:12 they can be grafted into that tree.
20:14 They are natural branches and they can become part again.
20:18 Verse 24," For if you," speaking of the gentiles,
20:23 "Were cutout of the olive tree which is wild by nature,
20:26 and you were grafted contrary
20:28 to nature into a cultivated olive tree,"
20:31 That is the nation of Israel.
20:33 "How much more will these, who are the natural branches
20:36 be grafted into their own olive tree?"
20:38 Verse 25, "For I do not desire, brethren,
20:42 that you should be ignorant of this mystery,
20:45 lest you should be wise in your own opinion
20:47 that blindness in part has happened to Israel
20:50 until the," what?
20:52 Fullness. "Fullness of the," who?
20:54 Gentiles. "Gentiles has come," what?
20:56 In. "In," Where?
20:59 Into where?
21:02 Israel, the tree, right?
21:04 Paul says very plainly here that God is waiting
21:08 for the fullness of the who?
21:10 Gentiles to come into Israel and then...
21:15 And this is the kicker verse 26,
21:17 and maybe you've heard this before,
21:18 I've people telling me this all the time.
21:20 "And so all," what? Israel.
21:23 "Israel will be saved."
21:25 I've people that come to me and say,
21:26 "Well, Bible says all Israel will be saved."
21:27 Yes, it does.
21:29 Right before that, who is all Israel?
21:31 Israel includes the fullness of the gentiles.
21:35 Now the only reason we look at this is simply to say that
21:38 when we're going through these Old Testament prophecies
21:40 and somebody wants to say, "Well, that only applies
21:41 to the nation of Israel," guess what,
21:44 Paul says in the book of Galatians,
21:45 "If you're Christ, then you're Abraham's seed."
21:49 Amen.
21:51 Those who believe in Jesus
21:53 are brought into the common wealth of Israel.
21:56 When we're reading Ezekiel 37, God is speaking to all of those
22:00 who would believe on the name of Jesus.
22:03 And when God is speaking to the dry bones,
22:05 He is not only talking about His people in ancient times,
22:08 the nation of Israel but He is speaking to you today
22:10 and He is speaking to me today.
22:12 Are you following me on that?
22:15 Let's go back to Ezekiel 37, and let's pull some things out
22:18 of that fascinating prophecy.
22:24 Ezekiel 37.
22:28 Now I want to draw your attention
22:30 to one part of this prophecy,
22:35 specifically verse 11 again.
22:38 "Then He said to me, 'Son of man,
22:41 these bones are the whole house of Israel.'
22:45 They indeed say, 'Our bones are,'" what?
22:48 "Dry, our hope is lost and we ourselves are cut-off."
22:53 Now I want to give you the setting
22:56 of the vision of Ezekiel 37.
22:59 I already shared with you that there are 12 tribes of Israel.
23:03 Israel was split into two kingdoms.
23:05 The Northern kingdom went up into the area of Samaria
23:08 and that kingdom had been taken captive by the Assyrians
23:12 over 100 years prior to this vision.
23:14 It was no more.
23:16 Ten of the twelve tribes were gone.
23:21 And now just one year prior to the time Ezekiel
23:25 sees his vision in chapter 37, the Southern kingdom
23:29 had been taken captive into Babylon.
23:32 So Israel, as a nation, was gone.
23:36 They were swallowed up by their enemies.
23:40 God had promised them these great and wonderful things
23:43 and here God's people are thinking the ten tribes,
23:46 the Northern kingdom is gone, the Southern kingdom,
23:49 we're captive in Babylon, so many of our people
23:52 are dying and dead, our hope is gone.
23:59 There is nothing left for us.
24:03 Have you ever felt that your hope is gone?
24:07 Have you ever found yourself in a situation
24:09 maybe it's in your job, maybe it's in your home,
24:11 it could be in your marriage,
24:13 it could be in your family situations
24:15 where you feel your hope is gone,
24:16 it's just where else are you going to go.
24:19 I spoke to a young lady just this week,
24:22 she has struggled in her life.
24:25 She has been baptized and re-baptized.
24:29 She has been re-baptized two times.
24:31 I asked her if she wanted to liver her life for Jesus.
24:33 She says, "You know,
24:35 I've been re-baptized two times,
24:36 isn't that the limit?"
24:39 And she was serious.
24:41 She really thought that she had just gone so far
24:44 that God could not do anything more for her.
24:46 Two rebaptisms, I mean how many more times
24:49 is God going to take you back.
24:54 You may remember in the New Testament
24:56 where Peter comes to Jesus and he says,
24:57 "Hey, Jesus, if somebody does me wrong,
24:59 how many times should I forgive him?"
25:01 Seven times?
25:02 'Cause seven times is good, you know,
25:03 some people don't forgive at all
25:05 and some people maybe two or three times."
25:07 Peter says seven times you said that was a good round number,
25:09 perfect number in the Bible.
25:10 Seven times, have I forgiven seven times,
25:12 Jesus says to Peter, "How about 70 times 7?"
25:19 Our hope is cut off, our hope is lost,
25:22 rather they say, "We're cut off,
25:24 we don't have any more future as God's people."
25:27 This was the picture, this was their understanding,
25:29 and this is why God says, "Therefore, Ezekiel,
25:31 go and I want you to speak My Word to them,
25:33 prophesy to them.
25:35 These bones can live."
25:41 Further down, it says in verse 13,
25:46 "You know that I'm the Lord when I've opened your," what?
25:49 "Graves," well, before there weren't any graves,
25:51 bones were scattered on the surface of the ground.
25:55 The simple point being that God is not addressing
25:57 as much the physical death as the spiritual death.
26:02 His people weren't all dead,
26:04 they were in captivity here, they were scattered there.
26:07 He wanted His people to know there was hope.
26:12 Do you want hope this morning?
26:16 I want to show you a couple of passages
26:18 in the scripture on this idea of death.
26:20 Go with me to the New Testament book of Colossians.
26:25 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans,
26:27 first and second Corinthians,
26:29 Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
26:31 and then you come to the book of Colossians.
26:33 Chapter 2, notice verse 13,
26:38 Colossians 2:13.
26:42 See I was just about to ask if you were there with me
26:44 and some of you would have said amen.
26:46 And then I would hear the pages turning
26:48 from the frustrated people
26:49 who didn't get there fast enough.
26:50 So I'm trying to listen for the pages.
26:52 Colossians 2:13,
26:57 notice what the Apostle Paul says here,
26:59 "And you being," what?
27:00 Dead. "Dead in your," what?
27:02 Trespasses.
27:03 "Trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh."
27:06 He says you're dead in trespasses and sins,
27:08 and He is speaking of Christ, and He says, He, Christ,
27:11 have made you alive together with Him
27:13 having forgiven those trespasses.
27:16 Paul says that we can be dead in our, what?
27:20 In our sins.
27:21 Now I want to show you something that I think
27:23 is even more to the point.
27:26 In the book of 1 Timothy,
27:27 just keep on going there right past Colossians.
27:31 And you'll come into the T books.
27:33 And all the T books are there right in alphabetical order
27:36 which is very nice.
27:37 We're going to 1 Timothy chapter 5:6.
27:48 1 Timothy 5:6, notice what the Bible says here.
27:53 "But she who lives," what?
27:56 "In pleasure is dead while she lives."
28:03 He says in Colossians,
28:05 we can be dead and trespasses in sin,
28:07 He goes further to say that if we're living our lives
28:10 for the pleasure we can get here
28:12 and now, we're dead
28:13 even as we're walking on our feet.
28:18 I want to tell you something this morning,
28:20 brothers and sisters, that there are many of us
28:21 who may even profess to be servants of God
28:24 but we live for pleasure.
28:27 On a regular basis, and I hate to say it,
28:30 but on a regular basis, I hear from one over here,
28:33 and one over there, and one over here,
28:34 "Pastor, it's just too hard to live the Christian life.
28:38 It's just too hard to do what God wants me to do.
28:42 It's a struggle. It's a fight."
28:44 We are cursed to live in a nation
28:47 where everything is handed to us on a silver platter.
28:51 Just like Dwight said last night,
28:53 the poorest person in America
28:55 would be the richest person in Africa.
28:58 But we whine and moan over the littlest things.
29:00 We want to live for pleasure, we want to live for the here
29:03 and now, "I want everything now,
29:04 I can't deal with these struggles."
29:06 Little do we know that those struggles
29:07 that we're dealing with are God's way
29:09 of answering the prayer
29:11 that we want a character like Christ's.
29:13 Amen.
29:15 We go to work out, you don't work out at the gym,
29:17 you know the saying, "No pain, no gain."
29:23 Your muscles don't grow
29:24 if you don't work them till they hurt.
29:27 Your spiritual life, you know, the Bible says
29:30 in the book of Romans
29:31 that tribulation works patience
29:37 in Romans chapter 5.
29:39 And patience works character.
29:46 So many of us look at the easy path and we say...
29:50 We look at that broad road and we say,
29:52 "I don't want to go.
29:53 I don't want to deal with the difficulties of life.
29:55 I don't want to make those decisions to follow God
29:57 that would be difficult."
30:00 Those who live in pleasure are dead while they live,
30:03 unlike what the Bible says about Moses
30:05 in the book of Hebrews, the faith chapter.
30:08 It says, "Moses chose to suffer affliction
30:12 with the people of Israel, the Hebrews."
30:16 Moses was the heir
30:18 to the throne of the world empire.
30:24 He had wine, women, and song, and he's beckoning,
30:26 all the money he could ever possibly want.
30:29 And yet he chose to suffer affliction.
30:32 Why?
30:36 Because the Bible says he looked to the reward.
30:40 He didn't live in today, he looked to tomorrow.
30:44 He didn't live for the here and now.
30:47 He realized that the pleasure here and now
30:50 may have consequences in the hereafter.
30:57 And as a pastor I've had the privilege,
31:00 if you want to call it a privilege,
31:02 of meeting people who have lived for pleasure.
31:06 When you're young, you can live for pleasure and enjoy it.
31:09 And then the aches and pains of old age come
31:12 coupled with the results of all those years of pleasure.
31:19 And you've thrown your life away
31:23 because you lived for the here and now.
31:26 You've got a valley of dry dead bones.
31:33 Bones that could represent God's people
31:36 who are dead in trespasses and sins,
31:39 bones that could represent those who have not yet
31:41 heard the name of Christ,
31:42 who are dead and trespasses in sins.
31:45 What's fascinating to me is God's solution.
31:50 What do you do for these people who have no hope?
31:54 You send them to a self-help seminar.
31:58 What do you do for them?
32:01 He says, "Ezekiel, preach My Word to the bones."
32:04 And Ezekiel did the same thing that so many of us do today,
32:08 just preach the Word like the Bible
32:10 is going to fix their problems.
32:12 Isn't that a little bit simplistic?
32:15 Yes. Praise God for it.
32:19 See, we look at everything from a humanistic standpoint.
32:22 "Well, it's just a book."
32:24 It's not just a book. Amen.
32:29 The Apostle Peter says
32:30 in the book of 2 Peter chapter 1
32:32 that "Through the promises of the Word of God,
32:36 we can actually become part takers
32:38 of the divine nature."
32:41 That means that the power of God is in His Word,
32:44 that when we apply God's Word to our lives,
32:46 it will bring the very power of God
32:49 into our lives to transform us.
32:52 It's not just a book.
32:55 If people are down and out,
32:56 the best solution God says is the Word.
33:01 "Prophesy to them,
33:02 Ezekiel, preach My Word to the bones."
33:07 And Ezekiel said like we said,
33:09 "Lord, this isn't going to work.
33:10 These people got big problems.
33:12 That's not going to help them out
33:13 but at your bidding."
33:15 And he tells them,
33:16 he begins to preach to the bones
33:17 and what happens, the bones come together.
33:19 They form skeletons.
33:20 And then the sinew comes upon them,
33:22 and the muscle, and the skin, and there they stand, bodies...
33:31 Without breath.
33:36 Now this is interesting to me.
33:39 Their connection with the Word,
33:42 their experience from hearing the Word
33:44 has brought the form of bodies together.
33:47 But the work is not finished.
33:54 And I wish I could say that most people could see it
33:57 when they got to that point.
33:59 But I want to tell you that I think there are multitudes
34:02 who profess to follow Christ that have gotten to the point
34:04 where the bodies and assemblance of people,
34:06 but they are lacking the vital power of godliness.
34:10 As the Apostle Paul talks about
34:11 those in the last days, he says,
34:12 "Who have a form of godliness but deny the power."
34:17 There's something missing in the picture,
34:19 they have the look of being, but God says,
34:21 "They are not done yet, Ezekiel.
34:24 Now prophesy to the breath and say,
34:25 'O breath, come into these bones.'"
34:29 And the Bible doesn't say that they live
34:32 until the breath comes.
34:45 You know, the Bible tells us that the Word of God
34:47 is living and powerful, living and powerful.
34:53 Go with me to the book of Isaiah chapter 55.
34:59 I want to tell you this morning
35:00 that these are no idle tales that I'm telling you.
35:03 What we're going to read in Isaiah 55,
35:06 what we've read elsewhere,
35:07 these are the very words of the God
35:09 with the power of God behind them.
35:12 When God speaks,
35:14 our biggest problem isn't hearing
35:16 what He says but believing it.
35:19 Listen to what He says in Isaiah 55.
35:24 Isaiah 55:10.
35:29 "For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven
35:35 and do not return there but water the earth
35:38 and make it," what?
35:40 "Bring forth and bud
35:43 that it may give seed to the sower
35:44 and bread to the eater.
35:46 So shall My word be that goes out of My mouth."
35:52 God said, "My Word going out of My mouth,
35:54 it's going to like the rain and effect that it has."
35:56 Now I was talking with David Berthiaume,
35:57 we were talking about this just recently about
35:59 how we kind of liked it for a long time
36:01 over the summer, there was a drought,
36:03 we weren't getting any rain.
36:06 Somebody said in prayer meeting,
36:07 they said, "Oh, praise God for the rain days.
36:09 Like well, you know, I'm kind of glad
36:10 that it hasn't rained because my lawn goes
36:12 dormant tonight and I don't have to mow it."
36:15 Have you noticed that?
36:16 I'm with him on that, you know, that's just one more thing do.
36:20 So, you know, the grass, it's fine,
36:22 it will come back when the rain comes again,
36:24 but notice, when it stops raining,
36:26 the grass doesn't grow.
36:29 But when the rain comes,
36:33 then the grass starts to grow again
36:37 as I realized yesterday as I was mowing my lawn.
36:43 In fact, when the rain comes, the grass can't help but grow.
36:49 God says, "So shall My Word be that goes out of My mouth."
36:56 He goes onto say, "It will not return
36:58 to Me void or empty
37:00 but it will accomplish what I please
37:02 and it will prosper in the thing
37:04 for which I sent it."
37:06 Do you believe that? Amen.
37:07 Do you believe when you open the Word of God,
37:09 and God promises something to you,
37:11 do you believe that you can bank on it?
37:14 Amen.
37:17 Now let me tell you something this morning.
37:19 I have a neat little way of knowing
37:22 whether you believe those things or not,
37:23 your pastors do by the way.
37:26 You know, how I know?
37:28 You practice it. Amen.
37:31 You see the people who don't practice the Word
37:33 and make excuse for practicing the Word,
37:36 deep down inside don't believe it's possible.
37:39 I have had people tell me, "It's just too difficult."
37:42 Yeah, for you maybe. Is it difficult for God?
37:51 God says, "My word won't return to Me void."
37:59 You know, the Bible contains
38:00 such preaches instructions and direction.
38:04 We live in a generation that is biblically illiterate.
38:07 Did you know the Bible gives us instruction on health,
38:11 on family, on marriage, parenting, work,
38:17 work relations, how to deal with our boss.
38:20 I mean, the Bible gives practical instruction
38:23 that if we would simply put it into practice.
38:27 You'll say, "Well, wait a minute,
38:28 Pastor, if I went to put that into practice,
38:30 I mean, I'm not able to do it."
38:32 No, but God is.
38:34 You step forward in faith
38:35 and the power of God is in that Word.
38:39 It will transform your life.
38:43 "Ezekiel, preach to the bones."
38:45 There they were standing on their feet
38:47 with the flesh and the muscle,
38:48 but they were void, they were empty,
38:50 there was no life in them.
38:59 I was reading this story.
39:03 It was printed in the September 20 issue,
39:05 2004 of MacLean's Magazine.
39:09 It tells about a man named Jim Sulkers,
39:12 he was a municipal worker from Winnipeg.
39:16 Fifty three years old, went home, went to bed,
39:18 climbed in his bed, died in bed.
39:25 And wasn't found until two years later.
39:32 Of course, he was a very responsible person,
39:36 he had his checks, his retirement checks
39:39 going into his bank account
39:41 and then he had automatic payment setup,
39:43 so all his bills were still being paid.
39:45 Apparently, he had a medical condition
39:48 that kept his body from decomposing,
39:50 they found him a mummified state.
39:51 For two years,
39:53 people thought this man was alive
39:55 but he was dead.
39:59 I wonder how many of us, how many people
40:02 that are name the name of Christ
40:03 that sit in our churches with the name
40:05 that they are alive but spiritually inside,
40:07 they are empty, they are dead.
40:12 The Lord says, "Ezekiel, prophesy to the breath."
40:19 I want you to see something with me in the book of Matthew,
40:21 chapter 12.
40:26 To me, this is one of the most important parables
40:30 that Jesus told.
40:34 Matthew 12:43.
40:44 Matthew 12:43.
40:51 Jesus says, "When an unclean spirit
40:53 goes out of a," what?
40:55 A man.
40:56 "A man, a person, he goes through dry places."
41:02 Other translations say erred places, desert places.
41:08 "He goes through dry places seeking rest and finds none.
41:14 Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'
41:19 And when he comes, he finds it," what?
41:24 "Empty, swept, and garnished," or put in order.
41:29 Okay?
41:30 His house, this evil spirit's house
41:32 that he left,
41:33 what was the house that he left?
41:35 A person. It was a person.
41:37 He leaves the person.
41:40 He is looking for places, evidently that person
41:43 had made a decision in their life
41:44 that caused evil spirit to leave.
41:47 There was only one problem, when that evil spirit
41:50 couldn't find anywhere to go, he says,
41:52 "Well, maybe I can find occupancy at my old house."
41:55 And he goes back, and how does he find the house?
42:00 He finds it swept and in order.
42:05 It looked nice, but there was nothing inside.
42:11 This is what Ezekiel is talking about.
42:14 You've got the people
42:16 that are standing on their feet,
42:17 they have got the flesh, they have got the muscle,
42:19 but there is no breath in them, there is no spirit in them.
42:23 Outwardly, they profess to be these stellar servants of Jesus
42:26 but inside there's nothing.
42:35 How is it in your experience?
42:40 Do you feel like you have to put your church face on?
42:46 Do you feel like you have to
42:47 put on a front to be a Christian?
42:52 That in your heart,
42:54 you're really desiring other things
42:55 and maybe even sitting here this morning
42:57 there are things that you hold in your heart,
42:59 lies, directions that you were going
43:01 that are in contrast with the religion of Christ,
43:03 and yet nobody knows.
43:07 I bet somebody does.
43:09 See you can fool me and you can even fool
43:11 your pastors but you can't fool the Lord.
43:17 And maybe in that condition, you find yourself in no hope.
43:19 Maybe you find yourself, you say,
43:21 "You know, the reason I'm that way
43:22 is because I don't know the way out of it."
43:24 Listen, can these bones live?
43:26 Amen.
43:30 No matter how down and out, there is sun bleached bones,
43:33 they have been dead for years.
43:36 Can these bones live?
43:39 There was no case that it's so far gone
43:42 that God can't revive you if you'll simply come to Him
43:47 and ask Him for that revival.
43:51 Hear, O bones, hear the Word of the Lord.
44:01 There are multitudes today who take comfort in the fact
44:04 that their name is on some church role.
44:08 They are joined to the church but are they joined to Christ?
44:18 Turn with me back to the book of Ezekiel.
44:25 Chapter 37.
44:40 Look at verse 13 with me.
44:46 The Lord says here,
44:48 "Then you shall know
44:54 that I'm the Lord."
44:56 I want you to notice...
45:03 That the point being made here
45:05 is not that you'll know that there is a God.
45:09 A lot of people know about God,
45:11 even church members know about God.
45:13 They know what it says in the Bible,
45:14 they can tell you the Bible stories.
45:16 But when He says,
45:18 "Then you shall know that I am the Lord."
45:19 What He is saying is,
45:21 "Then you'll have an experience with Me,
45:22 a real enough experience that you'll know
45:24 from your own experience that I am the life-changing,
45:28 all powerful God of heaven."
45:29 Hallelujah. When will we know?
45:32 "Then you'll know that I'm the Lord,
45:33 when I have opened up Your graves,
45:35 O my people
45:37 and brought you up from your graves.
45:40 I will put My," what?
45:43 "Spirit in you and you shall live.
45:47 And I will place you in your own land."
45:54 Jesus says in John chapter 14,
45:59 "Let not your hearts be troubled
46:02 neither be afraid for in My father's house
46:07 are many mansions.
46:10 If it were not so, I would have told you."
46:13 Jesus isn't a liar, is He?
46:16 He is gone to prepare a place for us.
46:20 He goes on to tell His disciples
46:21 that where I am, you maybe also.
46:25 It His greatest desires
46:26 that we can live in eternity with Him,
46:29 free from the struggles and trials of this earth
46:31 if only in the here and now,
46:36 we will fight the good fight of faith.
46:37 We will take Him in His Word
46:40 through good times and bad times
46:42 if you can only trust the Lord that through His power,
46:46 He can transform our lives.
46:48 He will bring us into our own land.
46:51 He has prepared a place.
46:57 Then verse 14, right in the middle,
46:59 "Then you shall know that I, the Lord,
47:02 have spoken it and performed it,"
47:04 says the Lord.
47:12 What's more difficult?
47:14 To resurrect the dead or to change your life?
47:18 I think of what Jesus asked,
47:19 remember He went to heal the man.
47:26 Actually the man who was lowered down
47:27 from the ceiling,
47:29 he told him his sins were forgiven, they said,
47:30 "Hey, who are you to forgive sins?
47:34 The man with the withered hand,
47:35 you have all these different examples,
47:36 who are you to forgive sins?"
47:38 Jesus said, "Let me ask you a question,
47:39 what's more difficult?
47:41 To forgive sins or to heal the whole man?"
47:44 But that you may know that the Son of man
47:45 has power on earth to forgive sins.
47:47 And He tells the man, "You rise up and walk."
47:54 I think about that here with the prophecy of Ezekiel.
47:57 I mean, what's more difficult? To change a...
47:58 If God can take dead sun bleached dried out bones
48:02 and bring them to life again,
48:05 certainly He can change your life,
48:08 certainly He can give you hope and victory in your life.
48:11 Don't you believe that? Amen.
48:16 Why does He want to do this?
48:18 Why does God bring us into situations in our lives?
48:20 I mean, as I said, we may be sitting here,
48:23 maybe we have challenges in our homes,
48:26 maybe we have challenges in our jobs,
48:28 maybe we've lost loved ones,
48:31 maybe it's in our Christian experience
48:33 and we just seem like we struggle,
48:34 and struggle, and struggle,
48:35 why does God allow us to go through it?
48:39 Because God knows that those things
48:44 that we have to face will drive us to Him,
48:48 will teach us more and more how to trust in Him.
48:50 And listen to me, it is only
48:54 when we're put in a position of need
48:58 that we can begin to appreciate the power of God,
49:01 not in everyone's life but in my life.
49:05 I mean, I know people that say,
49:06 "Well, Jesus came into the world,
49:07 I know Jesus died for sin."
49:10 But they can't believe that He died for theirs.
49:14 "I believe that Jesus can give victory,
49:17 but you have to understand, pastor, for me,
49:19 I'm just too far gone."
49:22 God puts us in difficult situations
49:25 that as we face them
49:26 and wrestle with them and go to Him for help,
49:28 we can see His deliverance.
49:30 "And then you will know that I'm the Lord
49:32 when I've brought you out of your grave,
49:34 when I've put My Spirit in you.
49:36 Then you'll know by experience."
49:38 And when people want to challenge you
49:40 and argue with you about your religious experience
49:42 and your God and say that's a bunch of nonsense,
49:45 you say, "No, I know in whom I've believed."
49:48 Amen.
49:49 And I'm persuaded that He is able to keep that
49:52 which I've committed to Him.
50:06 I want to share one more thing with you.
50:11 On the one hand, as I read through Ezekiel 37,
50:16 I see myself as dry sun bleached dead bones
50:22 that need the life that comes from Christ.
50:28 On the other hand,
50:31 I see myself not just because I'm a minister,
50:35 I see myself and I see you as Ezekiels,
50:39 who God has called to prophesy to the dry bones.
50:45 There are people you meet in your life.
50:50 There are people you come in contact with
50:53 and the Lord urges you through His Holy Spirit,
50:55 and says, "Go and speak to this person.
50:58 Speak to them the words of life,
50:59 witness to them."
51:01 And you say, "Lord, can these bones live?
51:05 This person wouldn't be interested in religion."
51:10 The Lord has shown me in my experience
51:12 that oftentimes it's the people
51:14 that I would think are the most hardened
51:16 against religion that are most open.
51:20 And so what does the devil do, he comes and he tells us,
51:22 "Well, no, no, no,
51:24 don't even bother with that one."
51:27 But what does the Lord say?
51:28 "Ezekiel, can these bones live?"
51:30 And Ezekiel says, "I don't know."
51:33 And the Lord says, "Ezekiel, you don't need to know,
51:36 just do what I told you to do."
51:39 Jesus says, "He is going to put His Spirit within."
51:41 That's right here in Ezekiel and in the book of Acts,
51:44 He said, you tell your Jerusalem
51:46 until the Spirit comes upon you,
51:48 "You're going to receive power when the Spirit comes upon you
51:51 and you shall be witnesses unto Me."
51:53 Amen.
51:56 If we're to receive the Spirit,
52:00 we can't receive the Spirit
52:02 and not be witnesses for Christ.
52:05 You know, I tell my congregation all the time,
52:07 everyone of you is a witness.
52:09 You're either a good witness or a bad witness.
52:12 You may not think you're a witness,
52:14 you may not want to be a witness, you are.
52:16 When we take the name of Christ,
52:17 we're witnesses.
52:18 And God has asked us when the Spirit comes upon us,
52:20 He says, "I've given you power to be witnesses for Me.
52:23 Speak My words to the people."
52:26 Even those who seem to be impossible,
52:29 even those that it looks like
52:31 they will never make a decision for Jesus Christ.
52:33 "Can these bones live?" "Lord, I don't know."
52:35 "Prophesy to them."
52:37 The Word of God can transform the lives.
52:47 Turn with me to the book of Philippians,
52:49 and we will close with this passage.
52:53 I find this particular passage fascinating.
52:56 After you go through the first few books there,
52:59 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans,
53:01 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
53:03 we're going to Philippians chapter 3.
53:09 Philippians 3:8.
53:28 The Apostle Paul says, "Yet, indeed, I count," what?
53:35 How many things? All things.
53:37 "All things lost for the excellence
53:40 of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord."
53:45 I'm going to tell you, Paul had an aspiring future,
53:51 he was very well educated, he was very well esteemed,
53:54 he gave everything away, counted it all as loss,
53:57 so he could serve Christ.
54:03 When we don't see that everything in this world
54:07 that we would seek for,
54:09 that all the acclaim of this world
54:11 that we would seek for, when we don't realize
54:13 all the pleasures of this world that we would seek for,
54:16 when we don't realize that that's nothing,
54:21 we've not seen Christ,
54:23 we've not had the view of Christ
54:26 that God wants to give us.
54:28 Why?
54:29 Too often it's because we haven't
54:30 let the Word speak to our hearts.
54:34 You know, prophesy, Ezekiel.
54:37 Well, you know what, the Word of the Lord
54:38 can't get to you if you don't spend time in it.
54:42 And even if you spend time in it,
54:44 if you're not putting it into practice,
54:45 it can't transform your life.
54:47 Paul had taken God's Word, and even as it cut across
54:50 the grain of everything that he was,
54:52 he said, "I die daily.
54:55 I am crucified with Christ.
54:57 I don't live anymore. I no longer live."
54:59 He says here, "I count all things
55:01 as lost for the Excellency
55:03 of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord,
55:06 for whom I have suffered the loss of all things
55:09 and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ."
55:13 Notice verse 9 and 10,
55:16 "And be found in Him,
55:18 not having my own righteousness which is from the law
55:21 but that which is through faith in Christ,
55:23 the righteousness which is from," who?
55:25 "From God by faith."
55:27 Verse 10, especially note this,
55:30 "That I may know Him and the," what?
55:33 Power. Power of what?
55:36 "His resurrection
55:38 and the fellowship of His sufferings
55:41 being conformed to His death."
55:43 Verse 11, "If by any means, I may attain to," what?
55:49 "The resurrection of the dead." What's his point?
55:52 Notice, he separates two things,
55:54 the power of His resurrection
55:56 and being resurrected from the dead.
55:59 In other words, Paul says,
56:00 "If I ever want to be resurrected from the dead,
56:03 when that day comes,
56:04 I must first know
56:05 the power of Christ's resurrection in my life."
56:09 Again, the same apostle in Galatians 2:20 says,
56:12 "I am crucified with Christ.
56:13 I no longer live but Christ lives in me," why?
56:15 Because when we're crucified with Christ,
56:17 we need to experience the power of His resurrection
56:19 breathing that breath into us and coming to spiritual life.
56:24 Paul said, "If there's one thing,
56:25 I count all things as lost, if only I can know
56:29 the resurrecting power of Christ in my life."
56:31 If only I can experience the living Christianity
56:35 that makes me a Christian not on one day a week
56:38 when I come to church in the morning
56:39 and sit with my friends but every day of the week,
56:42 every moment in my home, every moment in my workplace
56:44 that I may know the power of Christ's
56:46 resurrection in my life
56:47 and that Christ may be seen in me.
56:49 Amen.
57:00 "Prophesy to the bones, Ezekiel.
57:04 And say to them, 'O dry bones,
57:08 hear the Word of the Lord,
57:12 hear the Word of the Lord.'"
57:14 Brothers and sisters, this morning...
57:18 may we all have faith to believe
57:22 that Jesus Christ can transform our lives,
57:28 that through our exposure to His Word,
57:31 we may experience the power of Christ's resurrection
57:35 and that Christ may be seen in us.
57:38 Amen? Amen.
57:39 Let's bow our heads together.
57:42 Father in heaven, O Father, I just pray this morning
57:48 that as we hear the words of Ezekiel the prophet,
57:53 as we hear Your words speaking through him,
57:56 as we feel that our hope is gone,
57:57 that we are cut off,
57:59 Lord, help us to realize that nobody is so far gone
58:01 that You can't save them.
58:03 Lord, if only we will receive Your Word
58:06 and believe it and accept it for Jesus' sake.
58:10 Father, it's in His name that we pray these things,
58:12 Jesus Christ. Amen.


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Revised 2018-05-02