In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of God's people coming together and being united. He references the story of Ezekiel and how God appointed him as a watchman to warn the people of impending judgment. The speaker draws parallels to the concept of being "fitly framed" and "joined" in Colossians, suggesting that when God's people are rightly joined together, they will receive the necessary support and encouragement. The sermon concludes with the idea that those who respond to God's message and come together will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a powerful force in fighting the battles of the Lord.

This is Monday morning, June 3rd, 1974, in Richmond, Virginia. The ministry is given through Brother Stephen Combs. Will you please turn to Ezekiel, Chapter 37. Ezekiel, Chapter 37. We'll read the first 14 verses. Ezekiel, Chapter 37, Verse 1. And I said, Lord Jehovah, thou knowest. And he said unto me, prophesy over these bones. And say unto them, ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. Thus says the Lord Jehovah unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. And I will put sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you. And cover you with skin, and put breath in you. And ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. And I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise. And behold, a rustling, and a bone came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh came up upon them. And the skin covered them over. And there was no breath, but there was no breath in them. And he said unto me, prophesy unto the wings. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the wings, thus says the Lord Jehovah. Come from the four wings, O breath, and breathe upon these wings, that they may live. And I prophesied as I, he had commanded me, and the breath came upon them. And as they lived, and stood up upon their feet. And exceeding great honor. And he said unto me, son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, our bones are dry, and our hope is lost. We are cut off. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, thus says the Lord Jehovah. Behold, I will open your grave, and cause you to come up out of your grave, O my people. And bring you unto the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your grave, and have caused you to come up out of your grave, O my people. And I will put my spirit in you, and ye shall live. And I will place you in your own land. And ye shall know that I Jehovah have spoken, and have done it, says Jehovah. Before we go into this vision of the valley, the vision of the dry bones, probably it will be a little help to us when we study the books of Ezekiel, that we just have a very brief outline of the whole book. Now we are not able to go into the whole book of 48 chapters, but I think at least we should know a little bit of the outline, so that we know where each chapter or each message fits in, in the whole book. Of course there are many ways of dividing a book. And many people have attempted to do that. But I think, so far as I know, one of the best and simplest ways, I always go for simple ways, one of the simplest ways of dividing the whole book of Ezekiel, I find in some writings of a man by the name of Eliot. Now he tried to divide the whole book with the dividing line found in Ezekiel chapter 33 verse 21. In Ezekiel chapter 33 verse 21 it says, And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month on the fifth of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me saying, The city is missing. That was the dividing line to the whole book of Ezekiel. Why? Because before this we may say all the prophecies spoken by Ezekiel were spoken before the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple. But after that you'll find his prophecies will be directed to things afterwards. So the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple serve as a dividing line in this book. From chapter 1 to chapter 32 it is the first part. From chapter 33 to chapter 48 is the second part. Now in the first part you'll find it is again divided into three subdivisions. Chapter 1 to chapter 3 is one subdivision because that tells us of the visions of God appeared to Ezekiel and with the vision the calling and the commission of the prophet. Now we fellowshiped a little bit last night on these three chapters. From chapter 4 to chapter 24 are the prophecies concerning the sins of the nation of Israel and its subsequent punishment. So these are mainly prophecies of rule, of judgment. Then chapter 25 to 32 are prophecies against the heathen nations which were the enemies of Israel. Now that concludes the first part. Then in the second part you'll find it also divided into three subdivisions. The first one is chapter 33. Once again you'll find God gave the child to Ezekiel that he might be a watchman. You know in chapter 3 God gave him this child. He was set up by God as a watchman and his duty was to watch and to warn the people if he saw that judgment was coming and he did not warn the people so the people had no chance to repent. They were dying their sins but God will look for their blood. But if he should warn them and they refuse to listen to the warning they shall die in their sins but a prophet shall be innocent. And here you'll find in chapter 33 this charge was repeated. God said I make you a watchman. Why? Because God said it is not my desire that the wicked should perish. God's desire is that the wicked should repent that he may live. God wants his people to live and for that reason he once again charged Ezekiel to be a watchman. So that's as an introduction to the second part. And then from chapter 34 to chapter 39 we find prophecies concerning God's mercy and the restoration of the nation of Israel. In the first part you'll find the prophecies were mostly of judgment but after God had judged his people then God remembered his mercy and in his mercy he promised to restore his people to what he wanted them to be. And from chapter 40 to 48 which is the concluding subdivision of this book and God gave Ezekiel a vision of the temple and its services. In other words the ultimate of God's intention with regard. So roughly you will find that the whole book of Ezekiel can be divided in this way and I hope that having such a background it may help us when we go into this book but of course we are not going to do that. We will just pick out one or two things and fellowship over them. Now this morning we would like to fellowship together on this vision of the valley. The vision of the dry boom. Of course we know this happened in that section after Jerusalem was destroyed and God began to promise his people that by his mercy how he will restore them. So this is the context within which this vision was given. The hand of the Lord was upon Ezekiel and the Lord carried him out in the spirit and set him down in the midst of the valley. You know Ezekiel was with the captive until Ezekiel. And here the hand of the Lord came upon him and in the spirit he was taken away. Not physically but in the spirit he was taken away into a valley. Now this valley most probably was the same valley that he went in chapter 3. You know in chapter 3 the Lord commanded Ezekiel to rise up and go to the valley because there God will talk with him. And in obedience to the word of God Ezekiel rose up and he went into the valley and there God gave him his commission. There God gave him messages of judgment. There he was to speak to the house, to the rebellious house of Israel, the judgment of God. And now you'll find God put him in the spirit to the same valley. And there God began to speak to him in another way and that is instead of judgment God was to talk to him of mercy. But it was in the same valley. Brothers and sisters you know sometimes God will reveal himself to us in the mountains. Often times you'll find God will take us to the mountains. Not necessarily physically. But you know mountains in the scripture always speak of spiritual elevation. Sometimes God will bring us into a spiritual uplifting, a spiritual elevation. And there you'll find on the mountains he will reveal himself and his mind to us. Thank God for that. But our God is not only the God of the mountains. He is also the God of the valley. At other times you'll find God will bring us to the valley. And we will think what can you find in the valley? If you want to see God you have to go to the mountains. And that's the place where you can see God. When God gives you a spiritual uplifting. When your spirit is in the ascendancy. And this is the time you will expect God to show for himself to you. And he does. But sometimes God will bring us into the valley. Valley is the place of death. Valley is the place of humiliation. It speaks of humility. And often times you'll find God has been to bring us into a place of lowliness. A place of humility and humiliation. And there you'll begin to hear God. So he can speak to us at any time. In any circumstance. We should not limit God. He can speak to us anywhere, anytime. So long as we have an ear. So Ezekiel was taken in his spirit to the valley. And he saw it was a valley full of bones. And God ordered him to walk around. So that he could see the whole picture. Now think of it. A valley full of bones. And Ezekiel noticed that these bones were very dry. Old bones. It would give Ezekiel a kind of impression. The nation of Israel. The people of God. They were slain quite some time ago. And they were lying there. Rotten. Became bone and dry. They were not piled together either. They were just scattered all over that valley. It was a picture of total deceit. A picture. And after God showed Ezekiel this vision. The Lord asked him. Son of man. Shall these bones live? How would Ezekiel answer that question? Humanly speaking. No. They were already slain. You cannot bring them back to life. They were already but bones. All the flesh were rotten. Corrupted. All that was left were bones. And these bones were very dry. Not fresh bones either. Humanly speaking. But Ezekiel. Knowing God. God would never ask this question. If God wasn't to do something. So you'll find Ezekiel did not say no Lord. No. These dry bones cannot live. Neither did he say these dry bones will live. Because he didn't know what God was going to do. So as one who knew God. Since God asked such a question. There must be something extraordinary going to happen. But he didn't know what it was. So the prophet said. Lord Jehovah. I think that's the best to answer the Lord. You remember one day our Lord Jesus asked Peter. Simon son of Jonah. Do you love me more than me? Peter wasn't too sure of himself. So he said Lord. You know better than I do. Why don't you say it? Often times we think we have to say it. But the best thing is. Say it Lord. We are open. We will not limit you. Even though humanly speaking it is impossible. But we dare not limit you. With you all things are possible. We don't know what you are going to do. But we are open. And we are willing to go with you. Oh brothers and sisters. That's the attitude we should always take. Often times we limit God. To our own limited knowledge or understanding or ability. We think of God in terms of ourselves. And how we limit Him. But we should always be open to Him. Because He is the God of the impossible. Nothing is too hard. So Ezekiel said Lord you know. And the Lord said prophesy over these bones. And say to them ye dry bones. Hear the word of Jehovah. Ezekiel said Lord you know. If you want to do something. I won't limit you. You can do it. But instead you find the Lord said you prophesy. You prophesy over these dry bones. It is true I will do it. And you know in the prophesying you find. Thus said the Lord Jehovah unto these bones. It is the Lord who spoke to these bones. Behold I will cause breath to enter into you and in shall live. I will put seniors upon you. And will bring stripes upon you. And cover you with things. And for breath in you shall live. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah. In other words the Lord was going to do something. Only the Lord could do it. And yet He ordered His prophets to prophesy over these. Now this is the way that God always works. Remember dear brothers and sisters. God's work can only be done by God Himself. God's work can only be initiated by God. It is not a prophet who initiated the whole thing. It is not a prophet who asked God could these dry bones live. It is the Lord who initiated the whole thing. Why should the Lord initiate the whole thing? Let the dry bones be dry. The love of God initiated His work. It is God who initiates the whole thing. And it is God who does the whole work. Do not think that we can initiate any work of God. Do not think that we can do any work of God. There are many works we can do. But the work of God we cannot. Probably it will take a long time for us to realize. We often think we can do the work of God. We often initiate it. We often try to make it work. You may succeed. But this is not God's work. When you come to the work of God you find it is a work that is beyond humans. God's work is the work of resurrection. No one can raise the dead except God. No one can initiate God's work. It will be presumption. God alone can initiate it. And God alone can do it. Aye, aye, aye. You will find everything is done by God. These dry bones cannot do it. But there is one thing in God's work that He does want us to do. And that is, all that God requires of the prophet was to prophesy over these dry bones. And you know, humanly speaking, if the prophet did not have faith, he would refuse to prophesy. What's the sense of prophesying to the dry bones? How can the dry bones hear? It requires faith and obedience. And brothers and sisters, this is the only thing that God requires of us. In the work of God. In the work of new creation. God does everything. And yet, He desires us to work with Him only in the sense that we will do what we are told. We will cooperate. Sometimes you'll find it is so absurd. Sometimes we will say, Lord, what's the use of it? Why do you want me to do this thing? To prophesy to the dry bones? When Ezekiel prophesied to the children of Israel while they were living, they would not listen to him. And now they were dry bones. And could they listen? So, humanly speaking, that was absurd. That requires, brothers and sisters, when God begins to do a work, we have to listen. And we have to obey. That's all we do. We just believe in Him and do whatever we are told. And He will do it. So thank God for the prophet Ezekiel. He was not disobedient because it sounded absurd to him. But he prophesied. And, you know, oftentimes this happens. When you expect people will hear, they don't hear. But when you think, when you judge, that this is beyond any possibility. And strange enough, the dry bones hear. Only the Spirit of God can hear. So here you'll find the prophet began to prophesy. And he prophesied to the dry bones. And as he prophesied, as he was commanded, there was a noise. Behold, a rustling, and the bones came together. Boom. To Israel. As he was prophesying in the valley over these dry bones, suddenly he heard a sound. A rustling. These bones began to be awakened. And these bones began to move to one another. And they began to be joined to one another. Not just piling together. Not just coming together at random. But they began to join one to another in a proper way. And when these bones began to come together and join with one another, you'll find a frame there. Thickly framed. Properly joined. And not the elbow will be at the leg or the leg at the elbow. But you'll find all these bones will come together rightly related to one another. And after that was a lot of noise. Lots of rustling. And when these bones came together and thickly framed, then suddenly the Lord put flesh and healing over the bones. And also the skin. But there was no life. There was no life. Everything was there. Ready. So God told the prophet to prophesy the second time. But he was not to prophesy to the bones now. He was to prophesy to the wings. He would call upon the wings and, O breath, come and breathe upon these bodies. And the Spirit came into these bodies. And suddenly all these bodies stood up. And He came and He did it. You know, brothers and sisters, when you read this, you cannot help but remember what happened when God first created man. When God first created man, it was in two stages too. First you remember God took the earth and fashioned the form of a man. Everything was there. The bones, the sinews, the flesh, the skin. He used the red earth to form the form of a man. But there was no form. And then you remember God breathed the breath of life into the nostril of this form and he became a living soul. That was creation. But in new creation you'll find it is something even more. Because in the case of Adam, it was all original. Virgin field. God took the earth, formed a man, and breathed into that, and a man became a living soul. But in the case of the valley of dry bones you'll find these men were already slain. Rotten. Became bones and very dry. And yet God was not only the God who called nothing into something. The God of creation. He was also the God of resurrection. In spite of the fact that everything was finished. What God had created in the beginning had completely been corrupted. Had gone down into. And yet God was able to raise it up. Only God could. Now of course, the first application or the interpretation as given to the prophet Ezekiel was concerning the house of Israel. You know at that time the news had already come to the exile in Babylon. That the city was destroyed. Jerusalem was destroyed. The temple was completely destroyed. Now before the news came to them. You know these exiles, they were in the land of Babylon exiled for 12 years. And 12 years is not a short period. And during those 12 years they were always expecting to return to Jerusalem. As exiles always do. And false prophets coming out in Jerusalem. As well as among the exiles. Prophesying in the name of the Lord. That very soon the exiles will all return to Jerusalem. And Jerusalem shall stand. In other words, they prophesied according to what men desire. Not according to the mind of God. They tried to neglect the steps of their unfaithfulness to God. And God's judgment upon them. They tried to say everything was a better time. And during that period Ezekiel was prophesying among the exiles. Saying that this will not happen. It is much better for the exiles. Than for the people in Jerusalem. Why? Because Jerusalem shall be surrounded. Jerusalem shall be destroyed. The temple shall be destroyed. There was no hope of immediate return. No hope at all. And when he was prophesying that among the exiles they wouldn't listen to him. We like to hear what we want to hear. They wouldn't listen to him. But when the news came that Jerusalem was it. The heart of the exiles went down. And now it was hope. You see. From false hope they fell into utter despair. Now it was. We are like dry bones now. There is no more hope. We are locked forever. So you find the sentiment, the feeling of God's people. In exile now went to the other extreme. They felt they were completely saved. They were as dry. And it was at that time God spoke to the house of Israel through the prophet Ezekiel. Saying that yes you are dry bones. You are hopeless. I will bring you together. I will put my spirit in you. You will go back to the land. You shall know that I am. When God pronounced justice they wouldn't believe. But when God pronounced mercy they believed. Probably most of them. Most of them. But some. Of course. This was partially fulfilled after 70 years of captivity. Now you know when Ezekiel prophesied concerning the dry bones. It was about 45 years before the return of the remnant. And after 45 years, the 70 years will fulfill. And a remnant returns. As God had said. But of course only a remnant. Not the whole nation of Israel. For the whole nation of Israel to return to God. You have to wait. It is in the future. When the Lord shall return. The whole house of Israel shall return. So you find that this prophecy really concerned not only the immediate. That was 45 years later. It was to be partially fulfilled. But the full fulfillment is yet to come in Christ. All God's prophecies have to be fulfilled in Christ. And they will be fulfilled. Now this is the immediate interpretation. The primary interpretation. But brothers and sisters we know that the Bible is for us too. The spiritual principle there can be applied to all ages. Because spiritual principle has no time and space separate. Therefore we find that this prophecy. This vision of the valley. Of the dry bones. Can very, very really be applied to us. If we are humble enough people. If we are in the valley. We shall see it is a valley full of brothers and sisters. Christianity is in practice. The testimony of the Lord Jesus seems to have been. The world seems to have after so many years. We have tried everything we can. Through the centuries we have tried everything we can. As time goes on you will find. As you look out. It is just a valley full of God's people. God's people are scattered out of Joseph. Every Joseph is out. These bones are just scattered. And as we are scattered. We lose everything that's beautiful life. Brothers and sisters as you look into the valley. As you look into Christianity today. If you have a humble spirit. You will see it is just a valley full of God's people. And the word of the Lord is. Will these dry bones live? Humanly speaking no. There is no way. How can you make the dry bones live? But God is doing a good thing. God has spoken. He has spoken in his word. That he is going to do a new thing in Christ. And that is. These dry bones shall come together. And be fitly framed. And rightly joined. That is the first thing. You know brothers and sisters. As you look into the situation of God's people today. One thing that really saddens your heart. And you see God's people are so scattered. There is not that relatedness. One to another. And because we are all scattered. We dried up as dry bones. The first thing that God will do. Is to bring the dry bones together. His word. Is the word of life. The Lord said my word is life and spirit. When the spirit of God is speaking to us. His word can quicken us. Can awaken us. Can convict us. And brothers and sisters. Is it not true that God's people in recent days. Began to realize how we need to come together. If we do not come together. We will be left in the field as dry bones. We try to get a little bit of dew. We try to get a little bit of refreshment. But we are filled up. We need to come together. And now you will find the Lord is convicting his people. To come together. These dry bones must come together. There is a rustling now. You can hear the voice. You can hear the noise there. God's people began to move. Move to one another. But it is the moving to one another. To be properly related. It is not just a partying together. You know there is a great difference between. Coming together. As a congregation. You know coming together yeah for some bible reading. Or for some prayer. Fine. For some fellowship good. You will find God's people everywhere began to realize the need of coming together. Once a week. For an hour. In a service is not enough. So God's people began to meet in different homes. In different places. And try to come together you know. Try to have some bible study. Try to have some testimony. Try to have some prayer together. And some fellowship. But is that all? If this is all. You are just piling these bones into piles. It may look neater. More neat than before. But. They are just piles. Just piles. What the Lord is doing today. Is more than this. Rather than this. If you will allow me to say this. On the one hand I rejoice when I see God's people coming together you know. In homes. In prayers. For prayers. And for fellowship. Praise God for this moving. But on the other hand. I am deeply concerned. Why? Because people may take this as the final. As the ultimate. And if you take this as the goal. The ultimate. Then you miss something of tremendous value. Oh no. It's more than that. These dry bones must come together. In order to be. Fitly framed. And rightly joined. In other words. We need to find our place. With one another. There need to be a spiritual relatedness. That we are no longer individualist. In the sense. God does not take away our being an individual. Because we are still members. Of one another. But on the other hand. The individualism is God. How much do you find. Among God's people today. Who have come together. And are really rightly related. My elbow will be joined to my shoulder. My hand will be joined to my elbow. My feet will be joined to my legs. My legs will be joined to the other members of the body. How much do you see today. Of this work among God's people. Not too much. And this is what God is doing. This is important. Because unless these dry bones come together. And are rightly joined and fit together. There is no preparation. For what is going to happen. Oh how God's people need to see. It is more than just coming together. For a time of prayer. For a time of fellowship. For a time of Bible study. Good. They are all good. But brothers and sisters. More than that. I have seen people. Busy. Every day in the week. Because there is something going on every day. And if today you go to one place. Tomorrow you go to another place. Tomorrow you go to another place. You attend so many groups and groups and groups. And you seem to be nourished somewhat. You seem to help somewhat. But never rightly framed. And properly joined. After you have gone around all these places. You are still an individual. You stand by yourself. The word of the Lord is. Bone to its bone. Members one of another. We have to be rightly related. And when you begin to be rightly related. Lots of rustling. You know. Lots of rustling. Oh how we need the discipline. How we need to learn to bear with one another. How we need to know the lesson of the cross. Working in Christ. Taking away that which to another does not fit. Lots of chiseling to do. Lots of sawing. Lots of iron. Noise. Rustling. It must be like thundering. Especially in the valley you know. With all the acres. But thank God. These bones began to come together. And as the bones come together. Rightly frame and join. The Lord gave sin and flesh. Not just these bones you know. Even if the bones are rightly joined. It's a skeleton. And people are afraid of skeletons. But God will put flesh and sin. Now I do not pretend to. Know how to spiritualize the whole thing you know. But somehow I'm thinking of Colossians. Because in Colossians you'll find. When we are fitly framed. We are being joined and supplied. By bands and joints. Bands and joints. Sinus and flesh. In other words. When God's people began to be rightly joined together. Then the Lord will give sinus. Sinus is for binding them. Binding these bones together. Hold them together. And God will raise up some people. Who are like sinus you know. Who are like bands. And really help people together. Hold them. And flesh. Supply them. With the riches of Christ. Supply. And then over above it. The skin. Cover everything. Now what is the skin? The only thing I can think of is love. You know. Love is that which covers all. And you'll find among God's people. Begin instead of being separated. Isolated. Scattered. Individualistic. But you'll find people begin to really join together. And you begin to enjoy. The riches of Christ. And the love of Christ prevails. That is the whole atmosphere. But. Then. The prophet prophesied a second time. To the wind. You know of course in the original. The wind. The breath. The spirit. Are the same word. The same word in Hebrew. And the same word in Greek. So here you'll find. Instead of speaking to the bones now. It is speaking to the wind. And then you'll find. The spirit of life. Enter into them. And they become an exceedingly. Large army. God's people coming together. To be rightly related. Is a preparation. When God's people are really. Rightly related one another. Then the spirit of God shall fill. That body. Just like the glory of the Lord filled. In other words. The church. Will become. A temple of God. Filled by the spirit. Full of life. Under the full control. Of the Holy Spirit. And when they are under the full control of the Holy Spirit. And they enjoy the life. In fullness. They become an exceedingly. Great army of the Lord. Instead of being defeated and slain. Now they become a great army. To fight the good fight of faith. But dear brothers and sisters. As in the day of Ezekiel. He prophesied. He saw these bones coming together. And in addition. He saw not one bone was left. He saw the great army. Why? Because he saw. Way to the very end. But when you come to history. You find. It is not so. In history. First. A random return. As the first fruit. And then. The harvest. What God has intended for his people. Shall be fully fulfilled. At the very end. And brothers and sisters. I wonder. I wonder if this is true today. In other words. It is God's intention. That his people shall all be joined together. One to another. And his spirit shall fill his church. That his church may be a testimony. To the Lord Jesus. This is what God desires to do. But unfortunately. Probably. Only a few. Respond to that. Is it not true? That. When the message is given. Only a few. Really move. One to another. We hear. And we do not hear. There is no movement. How can we say we have heard. If there is no movement. We do not move to one another. We still stay there. It becomes just knowledge. Nothing real. But thank God. Some will hear. And probably some will move. Together. They will learn to be rightly. Related to one another. They are willing to deny themselves. Take up their cross. And follow the Lord. And when they come together. The Lord will add. Sins and flesh. And skin. And the life. The spirit of life. Will fill it. And control it. And they shall be. The warrior. The army. To fight the battle. Of the Lord. They are the first fruit. But the first fruit. Guarantees the harvest. Therefore you will find. One day. All the bones. And when you read Revelations. Chapter 21 and 22. You do see it. Not one dry bone left. Dry. And you do not see the bones again. You see Christ. That is what you see. So brothers and sisters. May this. Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. Really give us encouragement. Oh it must be a great encouragement to the prophet Ezekiel. He had to prophesy judgment after judgment. And now thank God. He was able to prophesy. Of God's promise. Of God's mercy. And brothers and sisters. Did we go to one extreme? First we are tired of judgment. We won't listen. And probably we won't listen to mercy. Neither. We will say it's hopeless. But it is not hopeless. The Lord is able to do that. Shall we pray. Lord. We do confess that we are the dry bones. There is nothing in us. But Lord we praise and we thank you. Thou art the God of resurrection. When thou shalt speak. Even the dry bones shall hear. Oh Lord. Move us one to another. That we may be rightly related. And really be joined together as one body. And we can look to thy spirit to fill us. That we may be an army of the Lord. Fighting for the Lord. For his purpose. Oh Lord. May thy people hear thy voice. And may thy spirit. Do and perfect his work. With the new creation. We praise and thank thee. Commit ourselves to thee. And thy word. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.