The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 30th August 2009 by Georges Kisombola
"Revival in a Graveyard"
Reading: Ezekiel 14:1-14
In the Nov. 1993 issue of Southern Living Magazine a fascinating article was published about a subject that is not widely held to be fascinating: cemeteries. This particular article focused on cemeteries in Charleston, South Carolina. According to Lynette Strangstad, a specialist in gravestone preservation, a lot can be learned in a cemetery. The epitaphs and artwork tend to reflect what was going on in the society at large at the time of death. For example, the kind and ornateness of a gravestone may indicate how many deaths were occurring at the time, or how settled and stable was the community. Obviously, one can also learn something about the wealth of the deceased, as well as the strength and prominence of his/her faith.
You can learn a lot in a graveyard
That shouldn't come as a surprise to us, for almost 6 centuries before the birth of Christ, God had a spiritual lesson of enormous import to teach His prophet Ezekiel, and He put him in a graveyard in order to do it. But the lesson God was to teach Ezekiel did not have to do withdeath, but withthe life that He would give. In Ezekiel's graveyard class, God would teach him about hope snatched out of the grasp of despair, and the possibility of spiritual renewal among God's people even when circumstances seemed least promising. Ezekiel 37 may be read as a model of how God brings revival. The question is:
When are the conditions among God's people right for a powerful, God-initiated, spiritual renewal?--Let's read the text and find out. Ezekiel 37:1-14
1. REVIVAL CAN COME WHEN WE RECOGNIZE THAT IT IS NEEDED
The reason God showed His prophet a valley full of dry bones is that it was an apt illustration, a visual metaphor of the condition of the people of God. God could see His chosen people becoming like a valley of dry bones. There was no hope, no life in them.
In vs. 11 the people themselves are quoted as saying, "Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off." The people were in a state of spiritual stagnation, even despair. They felt emotionally and spiritually dry, and they doubted that anything would or could be done about it. It was as if they were dead to any new hope or spiritual vitality. But it is to their credit that they recognized their spiritual need. Obviously, one does not attempt to repair something if it is not believed to be broken. We are not ready for a new work of God in our lives until we are willing to repent and pray, "It's me, O Lord, I am sorry. I am standing in the need of prayer."
And when do we Repent and stand in the need of prayer for a spiritual renewal?
It is when we have something against our brother or sister and have not gone to them to make it right; we can't be right with God and wrong with our fellow man at the same time.
A need for Repentence and then for renewal exists when there is not full obedience to commands of God - for example, to pray without ceasing, to evangelize, to be filled withthe Holy Spirit. Are these commands that you can disobey and feel no sense of grief or conviction? Then you are in need of repentance and a fresh encounter with God and the spiritual renewal and refreshing that only He can give.
Have you been lazy in serving God? Are there things or people that you love more than Him? Are there portions of His Word that you have denied, opting for what others say instead of what God says, calling it your interpretation when it is really unbelief? Has there been a lack of love or forgiveness in your relationship with others? Do you want more of the things of this world? Have you been selfish, have you been gossiping, lying, thieving; abusing your body, do you want your way instead of others', or even God's way?
Then you are in need of Repetence and a fresh encounter with God and the spiritual renewal and refreshing that only He can give.
The conditions among the people of God are right for renewal when we recognize that it is needed.
2. REVIVAL CAN COME WHEN WE HAVE FAITH THAT GOD CAN BRING IT
What a strange question God asked Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones - "Son of man, can these bones live?" (vs. 3).
The obvious answer is, "No, they are just dry bones." But Ezekiel was a man of great faith in a great God, and he knew that if God wanted the bones to live, they would live. So Ezekiel answered, "O Sovereign Lord, You alone know" - He knew that God can do anything. Have you ever been in a situation that you thought was virtually hopeless? Maybe you feel that you are in a valley of dry bones today. You are not where you should be spiritually; you are frustrated with your work; your marriag. Or relationships to your parents or peers, are not what they ought to be. Your daily fellowship with God is nonexistent. Can these dry bones live?
This morning, could you see yourself as Elijah on Mt. Carmel - all alone against 450 prophets of Baal, and 400 prophets of Asherah, when the only hope was for God to send fire from the sky? It did fall.
Could you see yourself as Paul in Athens, all alone telling the Greek philosophers about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? God made dry bones live that day as some believed. Could you see yourself as Jesus on the cross? all alone, dying a painful and humiliating death? Yet, 3 days later God made His dry bones live.
Is there a situation which you thought was hopeless? "With God all things are possible." (Matt. 19:26) Is there anything that you have done, said, or thought of that make you feel unworthy, hopeless dry, and frustrated? Did these things disrupt you communication with the Father and you feel Cut off? God can replace your frustrations with His purpose for your life. When we have the faith to put Him in charge, He can dissolve conflict between people, and He can melt cold hearts like wax in a furnace. God can transform your discouragement into hope, depression into joy, and spiritual compromise into renewed commitment to Him.
These dry bones can live. Do you believe that?
We are ready for a fresh encounter with God and the spiritual renewal He brings when we believe it. When we believe it then this church is ready for revival. The conditions among God's people are right for renewal - when we recognize that it is needed, and when we have faith that God can bring it.
3. REVIVAL CAN COME WHEN WE ARE WILLING TO DO WHATEVER GOD ASKS OF US
After Ezekiel expressed his faith in God in response to a strange question, the Lord gave an even stranger command: "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.'" (vs. 4). Ezekiel was a desperate man among desperate people.
He ached for the people to see what only God could do, and he was willing to do whatever God told him to do in order to see it. Do we want spiritual renewal and recommitment enough to do whatever God tells us to do? Or would we prefer to hold on to just a few areas of compromise or unbelief?
Are we willing to do what God tells us to do as long as it doesn't make us seem strange to the world, or out of sync with our pagan culture?
Or do we want a renewed relationship with Him and have enough zeal for Him to obey every command, no matter what?
Some Christians are actually afraid of what God may do if they give Him control. They fear the changes He may bring.
They are like the little girl who was afraid in her bed one night, so she went to her mother's bedside and told her about it. Her mother said, "It's alright, honey, Jesus is with you in your room."
That seemed to satisfy the little girl, so she returned to her room, peered through the door, and said, "Jesus I know You're in there, but if You move You'll scare me to death." Some people are actually like that.
They know that God is around and that gives them comfort, but they are afraid that if He does anything significant in their lives it may embarrass them. They would rather sit in spiritual exile and complain than preach to dry bones with a belief that God can make them live.
But Ezekiel chose the latter. He preached to the dry bones withfaith that if God wanted them to come to life then they would come to life. Without that kind of trusting obedient faith Moses would have never gone back to Egypt- without that kind of trusting obedient faith Abraham never would have ascended Moriah withhis beloved Issaac by his side and a knife in his hand,-- without that kind of trusting obedient faith the priests carrying the ark of the covenant never would have stepped into the Jordan River expecting it to part,--without that kind of trusting obedient faith you will never experience what God can do in you and with you.
A fresh encounter with God and the spiritual renewal that results comes when we want it badly enough to obey whatever God tells us to do.
4. REVIVAL COMES WHEN GOD BRINGS IT BY THE POWER OF HIS SPIRIT
Ezekiel recorded in vss. 7-8 that the bones came together, then tissue was added to the bones, and then flesh grew and covered the lifeless bodies.
How did it happen? I don't know--I don't know how God managed to show this to Ezekiel, but it must have been a scary sight. Ezekiel was now surrounded, not by bones, but by human corpses.
The next step was that God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the breath, to come into the dead. And just as God breathed the breath of life into the first human, He caused these to come to life by His breath. It was a beautiful and compelling display of the fact that spiritual life, and physical life comes from God.
What God did in the graveyard that day was proof that God can turn carnality into spirituality, despair into hope, and death into life.
But only He can do it. In Ezekiel 37 God does it all. He sent Ezekiel, He gave Ezekiel the words to speak, and He caused the bones to live.
That is why we must do introspection and see if there are areas of our lives that are dry. Sometimes we need to plough deep to bring to surface those things that are broken and in need of repair, in need of life that only God can give- because it is a work of God. This applies to us as a church. When God's glory is not present, church life can be frustrating and can be realy dry. But when as a church we come with our brokeness and surrendor all to God beileving that God will lead us where only Him want us to be. When we are willing to do whatever God asks as to do then there will be revival in this place.
We must cooperate with God. Paul must plant and Apollos must water, but it is God who gives the increase.
God wants His church filled with His Spirit, evidencing the fruit of the Spirit, following the words inspired by His Spirit.
In Conclusion
You can learn a lot in a graveyard.
You learn that God can change everything - despair into hope, doubt into faith, and even spiritual death into spiritual life.
And you learn what happens when we recognize what it is needed, when we have faith that God can do it, when we want it badly enough to obey whatever He tells us to do, and when God brings it by the power of His Spirit.
