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Under
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The seed is the word of God (Luke 8.11).
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The seed is the word of God (Luke 8.11). |
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Hear The Word Of The Lord
Again He said unto me, "Prophesy upon these bones and say unto them, `O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD (Ezekiel 37.4; KJV21) Similitude Here we see a similitude, just as Ezekiel spoke, in his vision, to those dry bones of so that they would live. So too, does the evangelist, he shares the “word of Christ” before others, urging them to “hear the word of the LORD” (Ezekiel 37.4; Romans 10.17). As the evangelist speaks, the Spirit works to revive them and give them new life; the Spirit acts on our behalf. Without the Spirit, the evangelist would surely fail, because the Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of sin “because they don’t believe in Christ” (John 16.9). It is true that a preacher must be sent (Romans 10.15; Isaiah 52.7). However, “God's grace can save souls without our preaching, but our preaching cannot save them without God's grace, and that grace must be sought by prayer” (Mathew Henry). That is why Ezekiel said, “Come . . . oh breath” (37.9). The same breath that gave Adam and Eve life also gives life to sinners (Genesis 2.7).
Death Before those bones walked around, they were dry bones, bones that had been lying in the dirt and blowing in the wind for a long time. They had no substance left—no flesh whatsoever. These dry bones represent the whole house of Israel. Their hope had dried up and perished (37.11). Likewise, we were dead in our transgressions and sins, just as Israel had transgressed The Law, so too had we transgressed and sinned against the LORD. Although we walked according to the ways of this world, yet we were spiritually dead (Ephesians 2.5). Also, we see here that Israel was cut off from the Covenant of God, so too were we, “the gentiles in the flesh” were “separate from Christ, excluded from the common wealth of Israel” (Ephesians 2.11-12). Therefore, we have the same promise that Israel received from the LORD through Ezekiel, a prophet.
Resurrection And although those bones were dead, yet they lived when Ezekiel spoke and said, “Hear the word of the LORD”. In the same way, so to does the evangelist, he speaks, and God works—by the power of the Holy Spirit, they hear the word and live. Since we were dead in our sins, we too came to life through the word of Christ. As we heard the word, God gave us a new heart and renewed a right spirit within us (Psalm 51.10). We took part in the same promise that the LORD promised through Ezekiel and Jeremiah, that while they were cut off and dead, God gave them life (Jeremiah 31.31-34; Ezekiel 36.25-28) To Ezekiel he said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you . . . and cause you to walk in my statutes (Ezekiel 36.26).” So we see that his is the Lord’s work, and not ours. This is why the Apostle Paul taught, “By grace you have been saved through faith, and not of works . . . for we all are his workmanship (Eph. 2.8-10). The LORD performed it (37.14).
Faith But are we not justified by faith? And faith brings us into grace (Romans 5.1-2; Titus 3.7)? Are we not saved by faith? Absolutely, God has chosen faith to be the method whereby we receive justification, however, it is not the basis for justification. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the shedding of his blood, is the basis whereby we are justified. We are never relieved of our obligation to believe in Christ (John 3.16-17). But as we can see, faith is a work of the heart, which is produced by God (Psalm 51.10; Jeremiah 31.36; Ezekiel 36.26; Romans 10.9-13). “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the “word of Christ” or the “word of the LORD”—spoken by the evangelist (Romans 10.17; Ezekiel 37.4). Once we believe, we are justified by God’s given righteousness, and he is we are delivered from the wages of sin (Romans 6.23) In essence, faith is a work of grace began by God and is finished by God and mediated by Faith (Philippians. 1.6; Hebrews 12.2). It w as grace that taught “our heart to fear” and grace “that leads us home” (John Newton). Preaching If anything is to be realized from this Ezekiel similitude, it is this: just preach. All we find in this passage on the part of the prophet here is that he spoke, and God did the rest. Surely as the prophet spoke, those bones stood and walked around. And they did not just walk around, but they came to life with flesh, blood, and cartilage. Likewise, when the evangelist preaches, God works to revive spiritually dead sinners. Belief is not an in intellectual act where the one is persuaded, but where one is convicted by the Holy Spirit to commit himself to Jesus Christ. Therefore, “in preaching the gospel, always push an issue of will. Belief must be the will to believe. There must be a surrender of the will, not a surrender to persuasive power” (Oswald Chambers). The sinner will ask, “Sir what must I do to be saved” in his mouth or his heart with fear and trembling, and we will “speak the word of the Lord and say, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 16.29). So this is the word of the Lord for the evangelist, “believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved” (Acts 16.30). So let us be ready to give answer to those who ask about the hope in us (1 Peter 3.15). Vol. 3, #5 |
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