In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. The speaker emphasizes the contrast between the weeping of the people who mourned Lazarus's death and Jesus's weeping for their sorrow. The speaker highlights the belief in the eternity with God and the idea that death is not tragic but rather a transition to a better existence. The sermon also discusses the importance of seeing things as God sees them and seeking His will through prayer and unity.

Okay, back to the text. Excuse my divergence. How does this chapter begin? It's not to do with Israel, but with the Son of Man. Where the hand of the Lord came upon Him in order to bring Him out in the Spirit of the Lord and set Him down in the midst of a valley full of bones. Why wasn't He there to begin with? Because who would choose it? A valley is a place of depression. It's not the kind of thing that will attract us. So He rightly kept His distance. And He had to be brought out of the place that He chose to occupy that was comfortable for Him, spiritually, and be brought down in the midst of the dry bones in the valley. That's how the chapter begins. And that beginning should not be lost to us. The valley is a depressing place, yes. Death is never pleasant, especially the nation that we love. To see that nation in that condition, you want to avert your gaze. We don't want to consider that death, let alone be brought down into the midst of it and be made to walk around the fullness of it. It goes right into our eyeballs, right into our guts, the reality and the truth of death. You need to stand up and do a little exercise. Are you okay? Okay. No man will ever speak for God who doesn't first see as God. Prophets were called seers. What does that mean? They did not see as other men. They saw as God. They see as God sees. They understand the situation as God sees it, as it really in fact is, in truth, and not as we would desire it to be. That's prophetic. No seeing, authentic seeing, which is a painful seeing, neither speaking for God. The seeing precedes the speaking. And the prophet had to be brought down in order to see it because he's a son of man and shrinks from unpleasant truth and doesn't want to see it. And that's true of us all, not just about Israel, about our churches, our marriages, our families, our nations. We want to see it in a better light, more hopeful, more wishful. Who has the courage, the love for truth, that alone will keep us from deception? For the Lord warns us that he will abandon us to deception except we love the truth, not enough just to respect it, but we've got to love it. And if you're not too experienced, I'll tell you, the truth is always painful before it's glorious. It's not a picnic. The truth is painful if we would see things as God sees them and be willing to be brought down and in to the midst of it by the Spirit and the hand of God. We are self-deceived. The whole world lives in the prince of darkness, the father of lies. The whole world abides in a lie. It's phony. It's affected. To say the right thing, the pleasant thing, the polite thing, and to shrink from the true thing. I plead with you. I beg you. Love the truth, however painful it is, about yourself, the church, the nation, the family, the child, for we will not see the truth there. How shall we expect to see it in Israel? This beginning is unspeakably significant. And it's not easy to be brought out of our categories, our conventional understandings, comfortable and familiar, to be brought out, that we might be brought down, that we might be brought into the valley, the place of depression, where the bones are. Not Israel's condition as we would hope it should be, but as it in fact is. One of the indictments of the church in the book of Revelation, you think you're rich and have all things, but you're poor and naked and you don't even know it. And the church is called to be prophetic and to be the prophetic presence of God within the nation and speak to the nation the truth of its own condition, not as it thinks itself to be, but as it in fact is. And must be warned. Look at chapter 1 of Isaiah. Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. Why is the prophet addressing the dumb elements? Because men don't want to hear. Religious men. Hear, O heavens, give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. Then comes the indictment of Israel. I have nourished and brought up children, they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, the ass its master's crib, but Israel, the chosen people of God, the nation of priests, the light of the world, does not know. My people don't even consider. O sinful nation laden with iniquity, people of evildoers, children of corruptors, they have forsaken the Lord, they provoke to anger the Holy One of Israel. They have turned away backward. The whole head is sick. The whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it. Wounds, bruises, crucifying sores that have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment. Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence, desolate, overcome by strangers. The daughter of Zion is left as a shack in a vineyard. A wretched, miserable hut. A besieged city. And doesn't know it. The prophet is speaking to Jerusalem, to the nation, at a time when it is prospering. And what is being spoken and what is being said is not the description of things as they see them, where there is an external prosperity, where the sacrifices continue to be made every day by priests, where the new moon and the Sabbath and the feasts are being kept religiously, which God says is an abomination, but the prophet speaks the truth of their condition, as it one day soon will be, who sees it as present reality and speaks the truth of their condition while there is yet time to hear it and to repent of it before it becomes fulfilled in fact. This is prophetic seeing of what is already true that has not yet become apparent, but the eye of the prophet sees it and as God sees it, and that's what he speaks. Seeing has to precede speaking. Seeing has to precede speaking. Are you ruthless in your seeing? Do you see through appearances through the shallow and deceptive things that would give the impression this is the best of all worlds? Do you see what the real condition is as God sees it that needs to be identified for those who do not see before its judgment comes? It's not a welcome task. It's painful. The prophet and the apostle are nothing but a series of deaths. They prefer to be away. That's why they have to be brought out and down by the Spirit of the Lord when they allow his hand to come upon them. He brought the Son of Man right into the valley and made him go all around and it was full of bones. They were very dry. And then God says to the man, Son of Man, can these bones live? Impossible. Even to prophetic faith, let alone charismatic faith. The prophet could not bring himself to say, but of course, the visible thing was stupefying. This is facticity itself. I wish I had a dry bone to give you. A really dry bone. And we would start here and pass it from hand to hand. Right down and through the room. There probably might not be anything left to reach the first few. But when you handle a dry bone, it is so dry, it decomposes in your very hand. It becomes dust. It's very dry. Because it's very dead. And you need to know that. That there's no hope for it. Except God, who raises the dead by the Word that you will speak for Him. Son of Man, can these bones live? Know what we have to say? The prophet is being brought to a place beyond his own faith. Charismatic faith will not suffice. Prophetic faith will not suffice. What kind then? The faith of the Son of God Himself. Have you ever come to His faith? When you've been brought to places beyond your own faith, that's ultimate faith and true faith. And it shall not fail. And few of us have ever touched it. We're still at another place and another level. Functioning and serving out of ourselves. Acceptably. Even admirably. For the situations we've had to face until now. But we're coming to an ultimate situation. Where that will not suffice. And God is the creator of that situation. Not only for Israel's sake. But for our sake. For we shall not exceed eternally. In the realm of heaven. Any place or position that we have not obtained in this life. Are you ready to go to the Lord now? In this condition that you're in? If it will be fixed? In that place? Eternally? Or you thought heaven was democratic? We're all going to heaven? One place, one status, one condition? You think that we're all going to be around the throne of God? Who can bear that light? Hell and everlasting darkness is a mercy. Mercy. To those who are not accustomed to the light. And have preferred darkness. This is a graduated thing. We're not in the same place now. And we'll not be in the same place then. But then it will be fixed. And eternal. We will have a reward. Proportionate to our works. In this life. And to the quality and the depth of the faith. And the knowledge of faith. And the love of truth and light. Established in this life. It's a mercy. That the Lord does not come now. And take us now. We would be eternally mortified. And ashamed. So here's what I want you to know. The crisis of Israel. Is for your sake. It compels you to be a saint. It compels you to have an authentic faith. It will not let you buy with shallow credos. It's got to be an authentic faith. And a faith that works by love. Or it will not work at all. None of this shabby sentimental stuff. Oh brother, I really love the Jews. I love Israel. Sentimentally. It evokes certain pleasant images for me. More imagined than real. That so-called love will go up like a puff. But when Israel disappoints you. The love of God is never disappointed. It's an unconditional love. That cannot be offended against. I know you only too well. I know that some of you esteem me. You've been blessed in these days. The Lord has touched you. But let me miss it once. One failed sermon. One questionable reference. One comment about the organ player. And the whole esteem can come down in a moment. Like a nosedive. Because it's conditional. So long as I perform. Impressively. But let there come a moment of disappointment. That's not God. Can you imagine? How far God will go? Who knows what eternity really means. And what is fixed and absolute and unchanging there. There's no redemptive possibilities there. So far as I imagine. And it's safer not to imagine that. That puts all the emphasis on this life. This life. This time. These realities. Is the format. Is the redemptive matrix. By which we are being shaped for eternity. It's not a taking of a test to get a grade. It's yet another opportunity. A God given occasion. To develop something. To bring us to something. That will enhance our eternal life. Who will rule and reign with him. Forever. He says some will be given five cities. Some ten. Whatever that means, this much is clear. It's relative. We don't all get the same thing. We don't all do the same thing. Some of us will have a more honored place. More significant. More eternally gratifying. That whatever the cost of that. In this life. Whatever the humiliations. Whatever the sufferings. That fitted us for that place. For eternity. We will have said it was worthwhile. We're apostolic. We're prophetic. What does that mean? We live in the present. With the deepest consciousness of eternal reality. We bring the eternal thing into the present. And it heightens every issue of life. Radicalizes it. Changes it. Enables us more to be the fools for Christ's sake. Than we would otherwise be. Enables you to be cruel before you can be kind. That's from Shakespeare. To play Hamlet. Maybe the greatest tragedy ever written. You have an obligation to study it. You know the story? Hamlet was a prince. In Denmark. And his father was killed while he was away. By his own ambitious brother. Who marries the widow. And there comes a moment. When Hamlet has revealed to him. What had taken place. His own mother. Was an unconscious participant. In a conspiracy against his own father. That this scummy ambitious brother. Could appropriate his kingdom. And marry his own queen. What should a son do about that? That's where Hamlet speaks the great lines. To be or not to be. That is the question. Because the man is even contemplating suicide. To be or not to be. To suffer the slings of outrageous fortunes. Next to the bible. I don't know a greater literature. And I'm saying all that to say this. One scene. Where the son confronts the mother. This silly shallow sensual woman. Whom he accuses of lying between incestuous sheets. And she's wearing a locket around her throat. A locket. A piece of jewelry. That opens up to two pictures. The husband that was. The husband that is. No comparison. The first was noble. A man of stature. A giant in righteousness. The other one scummy. Scheming. Ambitious. Vile. And Hamlet takes his mother's locket. And opens it. And pushes it right in her face. So much as to say. Look at what you've chosen. And the truth breaks upon her. Painfully. And she can't bear to see it. And she cries out in the most pathetic way. Oh it tears your heart to hear it. Your sympathy immediately goes out. To this poor woman. His mother. Hamlet. No more. Hamlet no more. Then Shakespeare puts these words in Hamlet's mouth. Sometimes he says. One must be cruel. In order to be kind. I wish I had a peso. For every time. I've had to be cruel. In order to be kind. One occasion came very recently. When a nice Christian woman came up to me. Wanting me to answer a question. But I first had to listen to long details. And I was exhausted standing on my feet. Taking valuable time. To hear the whole background. Until I finally had to say. What's the question? Well she finally asked me the question. That the Lord gives her things to say. But she somehow is not able to say them. Evidently fear of man. It's a problem that afflicts us all. So I said you know. That's only the symptom. Of a much deeper condition. Of a self life. That doesn't want to offend. That needs to be acknowledged and gratified. You know what I think your answer is? The cross. Not just against the fear of man. But the self life itself. That's the good news. That's the deliverance. That's the freedom. Because I perceive that your problem is more than the fear of man. It's an egotism. Which was even revealed. In your willingness to take my time. To weary me with all the unnecessary details. Wasn't that necessary? Wasn't that a bit harsh? Even cruel? How far will we go? If we know the time is short. And eternity is at stake. Sometimes. It's not an everyday thing. But don't withhold yourself when it comes. When the Lord wants to speak that way. When one must be cruel. In order to be kind. Or else when the final moment comes. To speak to the bones. As you are commanded. You'll not be able. So I prophesied as I was commanded. What a beautiful statement. The Lord commands. The prophet prophesies. Not what he would like to speak. But what he's commanded to speak. What if he was not in the mood? What if it was an off day? He didn't feel particularly spiritual. Lord, come back and try me another day. It's like us. Are you coming to the service? I don't know if I feel like it. That's at least what they say in North America. Because it doesn't happen here. I'm amazed. How much the conduct of believers. Serious believers. Is predicated on feelings. I don't know if I feel like coming. If I feel. The Lord commanded. The prophet prophesied. Because it was the consistent pattern of his life. Are you accustomed to that? To being commanded. And obeying. Instantly. Without qualification or condition. Or question. Not something that we like. Oh, I've been through the furnace. Living in poverty. Chosen. In Northern Minnesota. Forty below zero. We didn't have adequate housing. Pregnant women. Inadequate food. Living beneath the poverty level. Established by the United States government. And somebody sent us a check for $5,000. Glory to God. We had made no public acknowledgement of our needs. Came of itself from God. My mind was ticking off how it's to be spent. Housing. Food. Shelter. Clothing. And we were celebrating before God. And Friday was our fast day. Prayer for Israel. And why were we together rejoicing? The Lord whispered to me. In an ever so small voice. Art. You know that $5,000 check you got? Send it to such and such a couple in Israel. Who are in ministry there. Who have a brand new Volvo. Leather jackets. Live in a lovely apartment. Have exquisite musical instruments. Send it to them. I cleared my throat. I said, excuse me. Saints. But as I was sitting here. I hope I'm wrong. But I think I heard the still small voice of God. That said, send the check that you've just received. That you're already spending in your mind. To this couple in ministry in Israel. Who don't begin to have your needs. It was like a man taking the pin out of a hand grenade. And rolling it down the middle of the aisle. The shrapnel was everywhere. The shrieks. The cries. The anger. The hatred. I could not believe that saints were capable of it. And I was the leader. And the founder. And the principal elder. But then all of a sudden. People began to question. About my marriage. It's not all that good. Now that we think about it. Do you have a family and your children? Now that we think about it. Your condition is all that much to be desired. Are you really qualified? To be an elder? Do you have your house in order? They were challenging the authority. Hoping to find some contradiction. That would absolve them from the responsibility of obeying. What God had given the head. To that body. And all hell broke loose. A demonstration of rebellion. Of selfishness. Self will. That was always there. But never would have been revealed. If we were not living together. From the same income. That God had given. So I said look. I could be wrong. The fact that I've had. 15, 20, 25 years of experience being led by the spirit. That's no guarantee of anything. We can always be wrong. I hope I am. I'll tell you what. We're in a fast day today. Let's go out into the woods. Find a quiet place. Seek the Lord. There's after all only one God. He has only one mind. One will. He's not a series of contradictions. Let's find what the will of God is. And he'll give it to us together. And they will know. Oh that's a great idea. They went out all day. And we came back that night. It was worse at night than it was at the morning. I never heard so many scriptures quoted. Each one to defend his own position. If you don't provide for your own, you're worse than an infidel. I thought this was it. We're finished. Where's the unity of the body of Christ? It was a jungle. And these were not your everyday Christians. These are people that have left their Christian homes. And their businesses. With the love of Christ. And their identification with the cross. To come up as community in that remote place. And they were coming apart at the seams. What can we hope for than an ordinary saint? What a revelation. Of the truth of the condition of the church. As it in fact is. And needs to be recognized. Acknowledged. Or the grace of God will never come to him. He's a God of truth. But he'll be cruel in order to be kind. He's not going to pamper us. In our self-deception. But when we will acknowledge the truth of our condition. We'll experience his grace. And his mercy. What happened that day, brother? Well, we had a young Jewish believer. With pimples. Awkward, this all got out. The kind that only a mother could love. I had brought him from New York myself. And as a student, he didn't even have his own bed. He used to rotate the use of his bed with two other students. Talk about God taking beggars off of dung hills. Young in the faith. Immature. High-pitched crack voice. And we had come to a log jam. It was an insoluble dilemma. Threatening the whole continuation of our life. And in that terrible agony. Where you stop breathing. An unspeakable pain. Where there is no pain greater. Than that which we experience in the church. The church is not given for our enjoyment. It is given for our suffering. To prepare us for eternity. This brother spoke up. Well, he said. I don't profess to hear what Brother Art says he has heard. But I say. That if he thinks that he heard from God. We have an obligation to go with him. Because God has put him as the head of this body. And I think that we need to believe that that was God. Everything in silence. God had spoken. Unmistakably. And authoritatively. Through the weakest. Youngest. Member. In the body. We'll never forget it. We didn't walk out of that room that night. We were off the ground. But we were walking in the air. It was heavenly. It was joy unspeakable. Because we were willing to bear the pain. And the suffering. Of the church. In it's rebellion. In it's self will. In the truth of it's condition. Why did I tell you that? Forgot the point. I even forgot the point. How far God will go. If we will allow him. To prepare us for eternity. And the faith which is the faith. That will yet be required to express. Or Israel remains in her death. And the Lord does not come. Nor his kingdom. To the nations. This is the faith saints. There's a cross at the heart of it. Come on. Let's get real. The time is short. We have a call. Only us. Not given to any other. A son of man company. A corporate reality. Ruined through the whole body. A true faith. That can be commanded. In the moment that God chooses. To obtain obedience. To raise the dead. Do you like being commanded? Let me pray for you. Lord. Who likes it? We'll question the authority of that one who commands. If the command is not pleasant to us. If it threatens our self interest. We'll find some way to absolve ourselves. From the obligation to obey it. We're not habituated to obedience. We're self willed. We don't like to be told. We don't like to be commanded. But we're asking you to deal with that. And lay the axe to the root. That you might have a son of man. Whom you can command. To an immediate and total obedience. The moment of your choosing. Without hesitation. Because it is the final sum. Of all of his obedience. As it will be ours. Lord we ask. Command us. We want to be commanded. We want to learn to obey. Prepare us. For the destiny that must come. In the name of Jesus we ask. Amen. One or two things in Ezekiel. That I want us to cover. Someone is asking. What could be the circumstances. That would cause the hate and persecution. Against the Jews all over the world. We can only speculate. Because we won't need much. Because this hatred. Is just under the surface. Of modern life. Probably it will have to do. With economics or finances. Some collapse of the world economy. Which Jews could be blamed. Because we are sufficiently involved in finance. To make us a likely candidate. Some Zionist conspiracy. To take over the world. I tremble. For the number of prominent Jews. In the government of the United States today. One by the name of Rubin. The secretary of labor I think. Financial post. Greenspan. The head of the Federal Reserve. Which is the head of the Federal Reserve. Throughout the whole of the Clinton administration. Are Jews in significant places. That will redound against us. If there will be a collapse. And we are conspicuous in cultural places. Who would you say is the most famous filmmaker today? What's his name? Steven Spielberg. And the head of the Time Warner Corporation. Throughout the whole of culture. Economy. Jews in significant places. Affecting nations. And will be conspicuous. And be blamed. As they have historically been. Because they are in an unhappy predicament. As a conspicuous minority. Who stand out in the world. As they did in Europe throughout the whole Middle Ages. As the indigestible lump. That was non-Christian. So there was the great black plague of the 1400s. Bubonic plague. Millions died. But not one Jew. So of course. They were responsible. They poisoned the wells. The fact of the matter is. They didn't eat pork. Which was medieval Europe's sanitation system. People threw their garbage out the windows. And the pigs wallowed in them. The Jews kept kosher. They would not eat the unclean thing. And they washed what they ate. And would not eat the blood of it. So the very condition of their Jewish life and culture. Which preserved them. Made them the object of suspicion. Will not be able to get away from it. Which means they sent one. So does that mean that anyone who is sent is apostolic? Yes. That doesn't make him an apostle. An apostle is an office. Like a prophet. They indeed are sent ones. But the genius and the character of what is apostolic. Is available to anyone who is sent of God. In the purpose of God. So the whole church itself. Is apostolic in its character. And its foundation. Though there are individuals who bear that office. Lost to the church for many centuries. And now being restored. Something to pray for. Church desperately needs such men. Okay. Now back to Ezekiel 37. Someone asked me another question. About the scripture. And so all Israel shall be saved. Does that mean that all Jews will survive and be restored? No. Because Paul says in Romans chapter 9. In verse 6. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel. Israel is a remnant or an elect. From within the total world Jewry. Paul goes on to explain that in chapter 9. Not all the children of Abraham. But in Isaac your seed shall be called. Because they are the children of the flesh. Natural descendants of Abraham. Who are not the Israel of God. But the children of promise are counted as seed. It has not to do with any man's virtue. Or what men have done or not done. But that which is according to the purpose of God. According to election in verse 11. Not of works. But him who calls. That's the genius of the issue of Israel itself. Why Israel? Why Zion? The holy hill of Zion. Is going to be the very epicenter of God's theocratic rule over his creation. Yes. The law must go forth out of Zion. It's God's appointed place. As Israel is God's appointed people. But have you seen Zion lately? It's not anything to look at. It's not Mount Olympus. Probably not at all. More a temple. What gives it its distinction. Is that God has chosen it. And he always chooses. The things that are weak and foolish. That's why he has chosen Israel. That's why he has chosen us. To contradict the wisdom of the world. That celebrates what is ostensibly wise and mighty. But why do the heathen rage and imagine a vain thing? In Psalm 2. Because they don't agree with God's choice. Certainly Germany is a much more reasonable choice. Or any other number of nations and places. The rage and the fury of men. Is really against God. Who elects and chooses. It's called the scandal of particularity. We cannot bear that God is explicit in his choice. So Israel is the issue of God. As the choice of God's election. And don't even choose to be chosen. The issue of God's election. Is the issue of God. Who is who he is. And will be who he will be. I am that I am. And who should I tell the children of Israel to send me to? Moses asked. Tell them that I am that I am. And I will be who I will be. And that is my name. Forever. Israel is the point. Of God's election. In a world that hates a God who chooses. The question for us is. Do we choose what he chooses? Hallelujah. There are two particular things in Ezekiel 37. That it would be sinful for us to ignore. One comes in verse 11. Which answers the question. How do we know in all of these prophecies with regard to Israel. Whether God is speaking about something past in Israel's history. Or something future. After all there have been many judgments. Many exiles and expulsions. So how do we know that what is being spoken in Ezekiel 37. Is yet future. Because if it is. It affects everything. If it is past. We can relax. So there are remarkable statements. We have to see the context. The world says in verse 11 to the second. The Lord says to the Son of Man. These bones are the whole house of Israel. That is to say the elect of God. From within all Jewry. They indeed say. Our bones are dry. Our hope is lost. And we are ourselves cut off. I would ask you a question. From whatever knowledge you have of the nation Israel. Or Jews in the world historically. Can you tell me at any point in their history. Where the nation has ever acknowledged. Our bones are dry. Our hope is lost. We are ourselves cut off. Never. You say but brother how about the Nazi Holocaust. Six million Jews systematically annihilated. Certainly if there was a statement of national despair. And hopelessness. When all the world rejected them. And a ship came from Hamburg Germany. Just before the Holocaust time. Filled with Jews, German Jews. To one sea port after another. From New York to Cuba. The Caribbean. No one would take them in. They had to go back to Germany. And they perished in the ovens. If there was ever a time in the history of Israel. When we would have expected a cry of this kind. We are cut off we are without hope. It did not come. We need to understand this. There is something about us Jews. Because as Shakespeare says. We are human all too human. That is indomitable. That will not quit. That refuses to surrender. That has some ultimate confidence in itself. So that the statement that came out of the Holocaust. Not that we are without hope. But rather never again. Have you ever been to Dachau? You should at least know the name. It is one of the early concentration camps. Just outside of Munich. It was not one of the great factories of extermination. But many Jews died there. I have been there several times. And when you come to the great. All of the barracks have been removed. Where they lived. They still existed when I went to Dachau the first time. It is the first chapter of my book Ben Israel. My visit to Dachau. As an American GI. In 1952. Tremendous book. It is the account of my salvation. From atheism. With flashbacks into my history. Out of print in English. And never been published in Spanish. Needs to be translated. When I was there the barracks yet remained. The whipping posts were still in place. There were bones and ashes in the ovens. I was devastated. By the valley of dry bones. The reality of their death. But come now. They have taken down all of the original barracks. And have landscaped the entire area. And rebuilt one barrack. Perfectly according to specifications. In the German manner. But it is not the same. The reality of the grim death is lost. It has been swept away. Men turn from their own history. And the truth that is unpleasant. But it will catch up with them. But when you go today. In front of the big administration building. In letters about four to five, six feet high. Two words. Never again. That is a very different statement. Than we are cut off. We are without hope. It is not without hope. Never again is a hope. But not in God. In man. This is not going to happen to us again. You may have had your opportunity before. We were weak ghetto Jews. We were very weak ghetto Jews. Without defenses. But now. We have our own Air Force. And the Israel Defense Force. It will never happen again. If you go to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. I recommend it. I come away so sad. Because they have the museum. That in the hope of educating Gentiles. By the evidence of the Holocaust past. They will prevent all Holocaust future. Through education. I subscribe to a number of Jewish causes and organizations. So a young Jewish girl calls to solicit for funds. I said what is it for? For a Holocaust exhibit. That we might educate people. So it will never happen again. I said you dear sweet thing. Don't you understand? That education is not the answer. For the Holocaust did not have its origin. In some backwater primeval primitive African nation. But the land of Goethe, Schiller, Fichte, Hegel, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Kant, Brahms, Beethoven. But in the land of Goethe, Schopenhauer, Beethoven, Bach. The greatest civilization. The most brilliant. The most educated. The most theological. Became the official murderers. Of European Jewry. And you are telling me education is the answer? You evidently have not learned the lesson of the past. Are you a careful student of the word? What is the first word of the next verse that we have just read? We ourselves are cut off. We are without hope. We are dry bones. What is the next word? You tell me. In Spanish. Therefore. Therefore. That is no small thing. What does it mean? Therefore. It is as if God is waiting. To hear some kind of national acknowledgement. From us proud Jews. That no previous tragedy has ever been able to evoke. Indomitable Jews. To come out from the concentration camps with their tattooed number. Nothing but their shirt on their back. In ten years their kids are going to private schools. And they are successful in business. What an ability. As man. God is waiting. To hear some kind of national acknowledgement. That without God. There is no hope. How ironic. That the national anthem of the state of Israel. Is Hatikvah. The hope. Hope in what? Man. The state. The nation. But not in God. What does it take? To bring this key people. To the people of Israel. To the place of the acknowledgement of God as God. And themselves as men. Devastation. And ruin. And judgment. It's coming. And it's coming for this very reason. Don't think you can pray it away. That if we pray enough. And believe enough. This devastation need not come. It must come. In order that there might be a mercy to follow. And a return to the land. To which I will bring you. I will bring you out of your graves. No dead man has ever come out of his own grave. Including Jesus the Christ. He didn't come out of his own grave by his own power. He symbolized the entire nation. And was the forerunner of its own future experience. That if the son of man had to die. And go into the grave. Before he ascended to his glory. And his destiny as king. To rule over all nations. To be exalted by all men. What must the nation itself experience? Jesus didn't bring himself out of his own tomb. He was raised by the power of God. The glory of God the Father. So also must Israel. Why is this a strange thing for you? Why do you balk at this? Why do you want to pray for some other alternative? What a statement that is about you. And the church. That would desire some other scenario. And has failed to recognize. The inescapable centrality. The pivotal principle of God. For all creation. For which his own son was not exempt. Death and resurrection. A suffering that precedes a glory. That is the foundational principle. Intrinsic in creation itself. And you thought that Israel could be omitted? That has such a destiny and calling? That it could be accomplished another way? Unless you were a little disappointed in them? The nation is not turning out the way you had hoped? I can tell you it's not turning out the way we had hoped either. It's every day an increasing number of people. An increasing disappointment. Where is that distinctive that we thought to show as Jews? We are acting as every other nation is acting. When a survivor is threatened. The use of force. And even of torture. Recently sanctioned by the Supreme Court. If they think they have a terrorist prisoner. From whom information can be extracted. To avoid another bus explosion. You can use torture. We who have been the victims of torture. Historically. When we ourselves were in the hands of other men. Gentiles. Have now been brought to a place. Where we have to sanction the use of it ourselves. To preserve our existence as a state. That functions without God. But has a calling. That must be fulfilled. To bless all the families of the earth. Couldn't you understand that? Why do you shrink from this? As if there is some alternative. To judgment and suffering. Death and resurrection. Could it be because. Israel is the projection. Of your own hope for yourself. That you also are human. All too human. And prefer to see something obtained. Progressively. Through increasing improvement. Than radical devastation. And resurrection. How much of our view of Israel. And our view for Israel. And our hope for Israel. Is very much the projection of our own hope for ourselves. That we have not surrendered ourselves. To the centrality of the cross. To the inexorable necessity. For death that precedes a resurrection. If the issue is more than the preservation of the state. The glory of God forever. God is waiting to hear something from us Jews. And when he does. There will be a therefore. He will turn to the Son of Man. Now. Now you can prophesy. To these bones that they might be. We have been released. By Israel's own acknowledgement. That our bones are dry. Our hope is lost. We are still but cut off. That they might know that they might know. That I am the Lord. I am that I am. When I have opened your graves. And brought you up from your graves. Put my spirit in you. And place you in your own land. Not you placing yourself. I will place you. Then you shall know. That I the Lord have spoken. And have performed it. One thing remains. For the Son of Man. And it's the most difficult thing to express. Hold the tape for some future time. The Son of Man has been commanded to prophesy to the bones. Prophesy to the flesh. That will come with the skin. But one last thing remained. In verse nine. Because there was no breath in them. Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy Son of Man. And say to the breath. Come from the four winds O breath. And breathe on these slain. That they may live. Notice that they have not died of old age. This is the whole house of Israel. Slain. And in their graves. Outside the land. And in the nations. So we might see a multiple performance of this mystery. Perhaps in as many places where Jews are in their graves. And where God has a Son of Man company. Who can prophesy to the breath. So let me try this. It's one thing to prophesy to bones. It's another thing to command the breath of God. To command the breath of God. Is to command God. And God requires it. Speak to the breath. Talk beside to the breath. Command the breath. The Son of Man draws back. Lord. Yes to the bones I will speak. But who am I? That I should command you. The breath of God. Is the life of God. It's the spirit of God. It's the rhema of God. Who am I? That I should command you. This violates all my categories. This is offensive. This is ultimate arrogance. This is beyond my spiritual understanding. I can't bring myself to do this. God says you'll not do it. They'll not live. Because your spirituality. Your principles. Your self-exalting thing that needs to be protected. That needs to be protected. That you yourself have exalted. So that you don't violate God. That seems to be so spiritual. So full of deference toward God. That you cannot command Him. Is the last hiding place. Of the subtlety of self. Hiding behind spirituality. And until I have that. I don't have you. And if I don't have you. The words you speak to Israel are your words. And not mine. How far will God go? And what is He ultimately after? How deep-seated is self. That God deals with it all our life long. Our carnal self. And just when we think we have come to a right place. He says one last thing. One ultimate thing. One extremely subtle thing. Of which you would never have been aware. You would have died with it. And fallen short of the glory of God. If I had not revealed it. In giving you this command. Command the breath. And you balked. And you would not. So. Praise God for Israel's calamity and death. And the radical requirement it makes of us. That nothing else would have revealed. Not unlike what Jesus experienced. When his friend Lazarus was sick. And his sister sent a message to Jesus. Your friend Lazarus whom you love. Is sick. Unto death. Come quickly. So Jesus getting the message. Remained two days longer. Where he was. Sufficient for his friend to die. That's the end of his reputation. What will his disciples think of him now? Coward. Unwilling to go to Bethany. Where Lazarus is. Too close to Jerusalem. Where they would threaten his life. Playing it safe. I can tell you this children. Their deepest acts of obedience. Are the very things that will arouse the suspicions of men. And bring the severest rebuke. From Christians. In obediences that cannot be explained. Your friend whom you love. This is no casual stranger. What Jesus suffered in his humanity. With every core puzzle of longing. To go immediately to his friend's side. And deliver him from his distress. His failure will be interpreted as fear. Or what is worse indifference. But he remained two days longer. And when he finally came to Bethany. Lazarus was in the fourth day in his tomb. And both sisters. The spiritual one and the other one. Threw these words in his teeth. If you had been here. My brother would not have died. You have to suffer that also. Misunderstanding. Rebuke. Condemnation. Do you think obedience is easy? Your brother will live again. Oh we know he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day. They have it all figured out. No this sickness is not for death. But for the glory of God. Where have you buried him? Oh you don't want to go there. By this time he stinks. Four days in the tomb. And after the third day. The body decomposes. It's too late. You've missed it. There's no hope now. Where have you laid him? And they were weeping. And we have the shortest verse in the whole Bible. Two words. Jesus wept. But his weeping was not their weeping. They were weeping for the tragic loss of a fine young man. Could not this man have healed him who had delivered so many others? They were weeping for the loss humanly. Jesus was weeping for their weeping. Selfish. Sentimental. Human. As if death is somehow tragic. And that there's not an eternity with God. That is more desirable. He stood by the tomb. And spoke two words. Prophetically. Lazarus come forth. And out from the tomb. Wrapped in grave clothes. Staggered the man who had been totally dead. Release him and let him go. So I want to say this. That was the same speaking as the Son of Man prophesying to the bones. Commanding the Spirit. Prophetic speaking. Honored by God. Because the God, the prophet has honored God. And remained two days longer where he was. In an obedient meeting. That cannot be explained to anyone. Even one's own disciples. Had Jesus left earlier. Done the humanly desired thing. Satisfied the delight of the sisters. And then stood at the tomb. He could say, Lazarus come forth until he's blue in the face. Nothing would have altered that death. The whole issue of Israel's last days delivery. In the nations. And from their graves. The slaying of Israel. Is a Son of Man company. Whose word raises the dead. In a total obedience. Of commanding even the breath of God. Or there be no resurrection. The final obedience is the sum of all obedience. And we must not balk at any. Especially those in conflict with our principles. Or our spirituality. The last thing that we have to preserve and defend. That has to do with our identification and self esteem. As if it were more important than God himself. Who commands. I want to pray. In our last moment. A prophetic prayer. For the church of the last days. Of a prophetic kind. Brought from obedience to obedience. For a final obedience. Which is the issue of Israel's restorations. In the mystery of God. God will have a nation raised up from death. And a church. Transcendentally glorious. Brought to that. By the crisis of Israel's death. Over our heads. This is too theoretical. Too vague. Beyond our present comprehension. But we ask that you would. Sink the word deeply into our spirits. And open our eyes. To show us the issues that are before us daily. By which we must decide for or against God. Even if it requires us to be cruel. In order to be kind. To wait two days. When people think we ought to act. Oh my God. Have such a church. Is my brother Marvin right? That Ichabod is already on the door. Of the church of North America. That the issue of the last days. Is the church of Latin America. That you'll be bringing the Jews down. Through North America. But into Latin America. And into Mexico. And there the ultimate questions will be performed. Of a people of obedience. Who will not walk. When even their deepest and most treasured categories. Their spirituality. Is violated. In obedience to the command of God. For any obedience less than that. Is disobedience. That cannot raise the dead. Heal your word Lord. For the precious children here who have heard it. And those to whom it will come in the nations. Through the tapes that have been made. Such a call. Such a radical call. Beyond anything we could have understood. The desire of ministry. We receive this Lord. Bring us into the school of obedience. It will bring reproach. Misunderstanding. Not just in the world. But from Christians. Of a spiritual kind. And we will not be able to explain. But bear it. Lord the cross. Only the cross. In the thoroughness of the cross. Can lay the axe to this root. And we thank you. For its availability. And its power. To bring to death. The subtleties of the flesh. Even in its ultimate spiritual form. And we come to that cross. Once and for all. To receive the power of your death. In that which wants to continue. To have its own existence. Its own activity. Even of a spiritual kind. Lord the key to life. Is death. And the only church that can raise Israel from its death. Is a church that has itself been raised. From its own death. By the power of God. And can speak the words of resurrection power. For it knows it. And so I appeal to you. As the minister of these words. To those who have transacted with God. And are transacting now. Totally. Nothing with hell. I'm prepared to anoint you. For burial. For those who are committing themselves to the death. Of the cross. Once and for all. If you have already received an anointing in these days. It will stand for this. But if you haven't. And have been wrestling through these questions. And have finally decided. And are willing. For the death. That the Lord will bring. I'm prepared to anoint you. Come out of your seat. Sublimely. Seriously. One at a time. And receive this anointing. For burial. For those who are bringing their lives into death. Their ministerial lives. Not cheap carnal ambition. But the best. For God. That you might be His. Speaking His words. When He commands them. However much against your own grain. Nothing obstructs you. To bring complete obedience. To the command of God. Even your own cherished spirituality. You have died into that. Don't take this oil lightly. If you don't mean this. Something is being recognized in heaven. Something is being registered in heaven. By name. Your name. The Lord is seeing this. And honoring this seal. I can see your name. Written in heaven. The Lord is recording. He's taking note. This is for the future. The near future. When the great issue of Israel. May be decided in your nation. In your locality. Through your obedience. Anointed servants. Sons and daughters of the resurrection. Who know its power. For they live by it. And will not trust to themselves. In anything. The Lord. Who raises the dead. Thank you Lord. The end of ambition. Hope. Expectation for the future. Marriage, family. Is no longer the issue with you. It's the issue with God. Whose vessel you are. Who have no intention for yourself. I will not sink it. For your debt to these things. Except God gives them. Thank you Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. David Gomez. Thank you Jesus. Oh precious God. Something beyond religion. Beyond spirituality. Beyond the good intentions of men. And their best ability. The triumph of your life. Your power. Your wisdom. Your mercy. Through vessels that are entirely your own. Who have died. Even to their spiritual hopes. For good things. For ministry. The handmaidens of the Lord. The holy vessels of God. Who even in their silence. Compel men. To consider the living God. Who would otherwise have ignored him. For he is visibly present. In the power of his resurrection life. In those who have died. To themselves. Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. Bless your sons and your daughters. Seal them. And now you are able to release. And they should not think it a strange thing. Of what now will unfold. Even of an astonishing kind. Who could not have expected. Loss of employment. Of dignity. Of having to occupy a low place. Difficulty in marriage. Physical problems. Family problems. Whatever. It pleases you. To work this death. You are released to do it. The therefore has come. For these vessels have acknowledged. By the receiving of this anointing. That no matter the best of what they are. In truth. They are as dry bones. Cut off. Without hope. Until your life comes. Oh bless them Lord. Bless your people Israel through them. It will take us an eternity. To express our gratitude. For the saints of Guatemala. And Colombia. And Chile. And all of the nations represented here. El Salvador. That through their faith. Their radical faith. Unto death. Life has come to us. Through their words. Full of resurrection power. And not just good intentions. Thank you Lord. Bless the church. Sons and daughters. Of the resurrection. Once and for all. Teach them how to live in it. And the issues that come before them. Daily. Where they will be free to choose. In whose life and power. They will answer this question. Their own cleverness. Their own ability. Or trusting the life. That raised Jesus from the dead. Hallelujah. Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. Mighty preaching. Powerful preaching. In words that are not one's own. In a spirit and measure. Given beyond measure. Who sons of the resurrection. Who can be trusted. Not to exploit it. Or to bring attention to themselves. Or to steal your glory. Selfless vessels. Utterly transparent. Israelites. In whom is no guile at all. Raised from the dead. Full of the life of God. To obey his commandments. Lord. Little thing that I am. I bless the church. Of Guatemala. Of Colombia. Of Chile. Of Peru. Mention your nation. If I have not mentioned your nation. Say it aloud. Say your nation. Mexico. Ecuador. Honduras. El Salvador. Nicaragua. Lord. I bless the church. Of all these nations. And you shall return these children to their nations. To the community and nations from which they've come. But they'll not return as they left to come. They'll return in another form. In another stature. In another seriousness. In another authority. To be the pivotal men and women. Foundational to the church. Of their nations. Who not only bear the apostolic and prophetic word. They are the thing in themselves. I bless them. And I send them. From the throne of heaven. With all heavenly blessings. To bring blessings. To their nations. And to Israel. In Jesus name. Amen. Feel free to moan. Yes, let it all come out. Yes, pour out before the Lord. It's a fragrance unto him. It's filling his house. It's true. It's unfamed. It's not religious. It's deep calling unto deep. It's blessing the soul of God. It's blessing the soul of God. Speak to Aaron. And his sons. Which son I am. This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Speaking to them. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you. The Lord lift up his countenance to you. And give you peace. So, my priestly servants. Shall put my name. On the children of Israel. And I will bless them. Be blessed. In the name of Jesus.