DRY BONES

Dry Bones

 

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

 

Have you ever preached to dry bones?

What good would it do to preach to these bones? They have no ears. It was silly and stupid. This is a picture, an illustration, of the natural man; they are all around us today. He is just as unresponsive to the spiritual message for the cross is foolishness to him. But Paul was 'determined not to know anything among you but.....Christ crucified.' "Preach the word." (1 Cor. 1:23; 2 Tim. 4:2)

            The unsaved man to whom we may give the good news of the gospel is totally unable to make sense out of that message, but God tells us to give him that word. Then God in grace uses that message in that dead mind to open its ears and eyes to see the gospel. That is the way God saves men, "by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." 1 Cor. 1:21

The Bible teaches that salvation is brought to sinners through the instrumentality of a message - the Word written or spoken - and this message in its ultimate source is a revelation from God, concerning Christ, recorded in the Scriptures, applied by the Holy Spirit, whose work through the Word is symbolized in part by the sacraments.