Sermon Text: Ezekiel 36:36 …the nations all around — all those still left — will know that I, the LORD, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the LORD, have promised this, and I will do it. 37 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers for these blessings, and I am ready to grant them their requests.
Introduction: When the 4 Pevensie kids in CS Lewis classic, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” enter the strange land of Narnia, they find out something about it. They find out that it had been winter there for 100 solid years without a Christmas.
They entered into a land that was not what it had been, no longer what it used to be. Under the evil spell of the witch of Narnia, it had lost something precious…and the story tells us how they got it back trough the Power of God, represented as the lion Aslan in the story.
The God of Narnia, just like your God and My God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is a God of restoration. He’s the God who puts things back the way He intends for them to be.
No doubt, there are people here today who feel like they have been through 100 years of solid winter and they’re still waiting for the joy of Christmas. Things aren’t what they used to be, nor what they’re supposed to be, but God is Still the God of Restoration!
This is part 1 of our Narnia Christmas Series, I’m calling "Narnia, New Beginnings, and the Nativity."
I. Let me start in the The Book of Ezekiel.
A. Background on the book of Ezekiel
1. Chapters 1-32 contain a message of judgment.
a) God was not too happy with His people
and there was a price to pay.
(i) Sin, selfishness, worshipping
ourselves or anything other than God
brings His wrath and His judgment.
b) Judgment always begins with God’s people
first.
(i)Chapters 1-24 deal with the
judgment on God’s people.
(ii)But then Chapters 25-32 deal with
God’s judgment on the enemies of His
people!
(iii) Parents would understand this…you can
discipline your own kids, but you
wouldn’t stand for it if someone else
tried it!!
• Judgment begins in your own
house, but woe unto the one who
messes with your kids!
2. Chapters 33-48, though contain a message of
restoration.
a) God is very clear about why He’s going
to restore His people…..He says…
(i) Ezek 36:22-23 "Therefore say
to the house of Israel, ’Thus says
the Lord GOD: "I do not do this for
your sake, O house of Israel, but
for My holy name’s sake, which you
have profaned among the nations
wherever you went.
b) God is never content to let His people
stay in misery, no matter what the cause
of that misery.
(i) Even if their own sin was the cause.
(ii) God’s name can be discredited in two
ways…
• Our sin discredits God
(i)When God’s people fall into sin,
it’s a blemish on His name.
(ii)It does God no good when people
can point at us and say with any
justification…. ”so you call
yourself a man, or woman of
God….”
(a)People want to say….”look at
you, you sure fell hard.”
(b)But God wants to say in
return…”yeah they did, but by
my grace they got back up
again, didn’t they!!!”
(iii)When God restores and reconciles
us from our sins, it clears His
name.
• Sin discredits God’s name, but
so does our prolonged misery…
(i)God doesn’t want us to live
the rest of our lives in
misery…..so that people can
say…”what kind of God is
that, who lets you live in
misery?" That’s just
another blemish to His name.
• He wants to say…"I’m the God
who brought them out of misery…
so that the world would know
that I am the Lord their God!!!
(i)If you belong to God, but
find yourself in a miserable
situation right now, I have
good news for you…
• No matter what has caused
you to become miserable,
God is going to restore you…
for His Holy name’s sake!
B. Some of you are in miserable situations right
now….like the creatures of Narnia.
1. Seems like 100 years of solid winter and
not a Christmas in site.
2. Some, not all, of your marriages are
miserable.
3. Some of you are in miserable job
situations, financial situations, etc.
a. Of course God loves you and is concerned
for you, but He’s even more concerned
that you’re making Him look bad and for
that reason, He’s determined to get you
out of this mess!!
II. But you need to work with Him….there’s a process involved….
A. If sin is at the root of your misery, (and it
may or may not be) there needs to be
cleansing before there can be restoration….
1. Eze 36:33 "This is what the
Sovereign LORD says: When I cleanse you
from your sins, I will bring people to
live in your cities, and the ruins will
be rebuilt. 34 The fields that used to
lie empty and desolate — a shock to all
who passed by — will again be farmed. 35
And when I bring you back, people will
say, ’This godforsaken land is now like
Eden’s garden!
B. He goes on, v35 The ruined cities now have
strong walls, and they are filled with
people!’ 36 Then the nations all around — all
those still left — will know that I, the
LORD, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush
crops in the wilderness. For I, the LORD,
have promised this, and I will do it.
1. God’s promise is one of restoration..
2. Hold on to the Promise
C. Again, we need to work with Him on this…v37
1. Ezek 36:37 "This is what the Sovereign LORD
says: I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers
for these blessings, and I am ready to
grant them their requests. 38 I will
multiply them like the sacred flocks that
fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of her
festivals. The ruined cities will be
crowded with people once more, and everyone
will know that I am the LORD."
(i) God had made a promise of restoration,
but then he told the people to pray it
into existence.
• God said, "I’ll do my part, but you
need to do yours!"
• I’ll restore you, but you still need
to pray….
(i) Don’t whine, pray!
(ii) Don’t doubt, pray!
(iii)Don’t fear, pray!
• I’ll restore if you pray!!!
• God said that He was ready to grant
their what? their requests……
(i) Paul said in Phil 4:6,7 Be
anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving,
Let your requests be made known to
God; 7 and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.
2. If your marriage or any other aspect of
your life is miserable……
a) I’m telling you that God has a promise
here for you…..
(i) Your rotten marriage is giving God
a bad name and I believe He’s
promising to fix it, but you need
to make it a request…both of you,
if possible.
b) We’re going to enter the new year with
a serious commitment to prayer.
(i) We want to really fast, pray
and seek God….
(ii) Our corporate prayer for married
couples will start the first
Thursday in January.
• But don’t wait til then….
• Start to ramp up your prayer
life right now!!!
(i)You’ve talked about things,
hollered about things, cried
about things…..with each other.
(ii) Now pray to God with each
other!!
• Couples, PRAY NOW!!!!
(c)God has promised!!!
(i) But now you pray!!!
III. It doesn’t matter how desperate your situation looks…(or what in your life may have seemingly been turned to stone as it was in Narnia)
A. We leave chapter 36 of Ezekiel and enter
chapter 37…most of you know Ezekiel 37….
1. Ezek 37:1 The LORD took hold of me, and I
was carried away by the Spirit of the LORD
to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me
around among the old, dry bones that
covered the valley floor. They were
scattered everywhere across the ground. 3
Then he asked me, "Son of man, can these
bones become living people again?" "O
Sovereign LORD," I replied, "you alone know
the answer to that."
a) Not much hope in a pile of bones, is
there?…..can they live again? God
knows!!!
2. v4 Then he said to me, "Speak to these
bones and say, ’Dry bones, listen to the
word of the LORD! 5 This is what the
Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to
breathe into you and make you live again!
(like Aslan Did over the creatures the
witch had turned to stone) 6 I will put
flesh and muscles on you and cover you with
skin. I will put breath into you, and you
will come to life. Then you will know that
I am the LORD.’ "
a) Some of our situations need God to
breath on them, to bring the back to
life!!
3. Chp 37:7 So I spoke these words, just as he
told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a
rattling noise all across the valley. The
bones of each body came together and
attached themselves as they had been
before. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and
flesh formed over the bones. Then skin
formed to cover their bodies, but they
still had no breath in them. 9 Then he said
to me, "Speak to the winds and say: ’This
is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O
breath, from the four winds! Breathe into
these dead bodies so that they may live
again.’ "10 So I spoke as he commanded me,
and the wind entered the bodies, and they
began to breathe. They all came to life and
stood up on their feet — a great army of
them.
a) When God restores something, he doesn’t
fool around!!
IV. Conclusion.
A. Narnia was just a fantasy world….but Exiekiel
was a real prophet of God, in whose day, God
moved in a real way… New Haven, the place
where we all are right now is also very
real. We have very real problems in this very
real place…
B. Aslan was just a figment of CS Lewis’
imagination….
1. But the character of Aslan was based on the
very real Christ in CS Lewis’ heart.
a) a very real Jesus who was born in a
manger who became the source of our
hope today……
(i)The Christ who is not intimidated by
your dry bones….no matter how dry they
may have become..no matter how long
the life has been gone from them….
(ii)O son of man, can these bones live???
(iii) Can your “dry bones” be restored
Lord, you know!!!
2. God wants to breath on some situations here
today…….
a) But you need to work with Him
(i)We need to speak to our seemingly
hopeless situations.
That altar call was for those who found themselves in need of restoration in different areas of life. Among other things, many marriages were in need of restoration. Couples came forward, humbled themselves before God and begain to speak life into their marriages. Some of these, i know for a fact, had been ready to give up. There were tears and, I believe, the beginnings of major restoration.
