Introduction:
Good morning to all and Happy New Year. We may feel different as the settings now is similar to what we have in 2020, when everyone needs to be safe in their own homes, that’s why we are now in our online Sunday Worship and Healing service starting this Sunday.
As we welcome 2022, we were surprised by the new Covid-19 new variant named “Omicron” and just now this week there is another variant named “IHU”. And we know in the news how many of our people are badly affected by it. Though many already received their vaccinations yet we still have this fear what will happen to us this year 2022. With that, can we still say that is there any happiness this new year?
This January we are celebrating a new theme “Believing Hope” and our theme is found in Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this…” Last week, our dear pastor exhorted us to put our faith to God and commit every way God wants us to have this whole year. But how can we start believing that we have hope when everything starts to feel hopeless?
Illustration:
The Devil was having a garage sale, and all of his tools were marked with different prices. There was hatred, jealously, deceit, lying, and pride--all at expensive prices. But over to the side of the garage on display was a tool more obviously worn than any of the other tools. It was also the most costly. The tool was labelled DISCOURAGEMENT. When questioned, the Devil said, "It’s more useful to me than any other tool. When I can’t bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use discouragement, because so few people realize that it belongs to me." Satan is never happier than when he sees people giving in and giving up to despair and becoming lost in hopelessness.
Hope in the Midst of Hopelessness (Pag-asa sa Gitna ng Kawalan ng Pag-asa)
That’s right, there is still hope in the midst of hopelessness, and we only need to believe that there is still hope! And we can find it in God’s presence. What is impossible to men are all possible to God! Look at our texts that we are going to read this morning found in…
EZEKIEL 37:1-10
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know." 4 Then He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.' " 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
Here we can see how the impossible things were turned to possibility as Prophet Ezekiel prophesied to dry bones with no life at all and suddenly God made them all alive! God was telling a lesson to Ezekiel that there is hope to the hopeless like these dry bones!
Setting:
The Babylonians raided and destroyed Israel particularly Jerusalem and most of the people were taken into captivity by the Babylonians and they were all take to Babylon. But some of the people were left behind to be in captives by the Babylonians in Jerusalem. So, in both places in Babylon and Jerusalem, there were Israelites to be taken as prisoners or captives of war.
Prophet Jeremiah ministered to the children of Israel that were still in Jerusalem. But Prophet Ezekiel was carried off with the group that were in captivity by the Babylonians. The name Ezekiel means God will strengthen. Ezekiel was with them to inspire and strengthen the generation that was born into exile and to remind them that the Lord God almighty was still on their side. Don’t think that Ezekiel had an easy task. The people that he was ministering to were too depressed. They were defeated in battle, removed from their homeland, mocked by the people that conquered them. There was nothing easy about this mission. He is trying to provide inspiration to a people that did not want to be inspired. He’s trying to provide hope for folks that felt all was hopeless. Trying to encourage folks that didn’t want to be encouraged.
In Psalm 137 the children to Israel were so agitated and aggravated that they threw their harps, their instrument to praise and they threw them into the trees and they declared “How can we sing songs of Zion in a strange Land?”
Psalms 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" 4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. 6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. 7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!" 8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us— 9 he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
In the midst of our hopelessness:
1. God allows it.
Yes, God allows our hopelessness. Look at the story of Job, the story of Jesus raising Lazarus, even the hopeless situation of the Israelites when they roamed in the wilderness for 40years, and now the hopelessness didn’t stop as the Israelites were exiled in Babylon for another 70 years!
Ezekiel 37:1-2 " The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry."
The picture portrayed here was that of the nation of Israel in their Babylonian captivity. The nation was virtually dead. It was lifeless, scattered, and bleached just as this conquered army’s corpses, which were strewn across a battleground. There was no way humanly possible that they would ever arise from this defeat. It would be impossible!
There is no greater state of hopelessness than of man without Christ. (Wala nang mas hihigit pa sa kawalan ng pag-asa ng isang taong na walang Kristo sa kanyang buhay).
Ephesians 2:12 "Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world."
Reflections on our current situation that even the super power house USA and other countries could not win over COVID-19, then how about us? Isn’t that a fact of hopelessness in us? Though after 2 years of pandemic there are available vaccinations, yet we can’t simply put all our faith to these man-made cures as there are more variants that has been discovered lately. If these vaccines are truly dependable, how come many are still hesitant to be vaccinated?
One thing is for sure, why did God allow hopelessness is that because God has a purpose for it. And that purpose is for us to realize that in the midst of our hopelessness…
2. God is the answer to it.
Who will say amen? That God has the answer and He is the answer for everything we are now going through! There will be no solution to our hopelessness except that God allowed it! He allowed to be in Babylon so they can learn their lesson to worship God. In fact, to answer their hopelessness, Prophet Jeremiah told them that they will be brought back again to Israel.
Jeremiah 32:42 “This is what the Lord says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them.”
And that is the purpose of God by allowing us to be in this pandemic situation, so we can learn that God can still prosper us in the midst of our hopeless situation.
Similarly, God made a vision to Ezekiel in Babylon…
Ezekiel 37:3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know."
Ezekiel can only assess that "Life is impossible to these dead bones and it could never live again”. Yet it was God who asked the question, and it is God alone who knows the answer.
I like what Ezekiel did. Ezekiel placed the decision into capable hands. Ezekiel placed the decision in the hands of the Lord. Ezekiel didn’t say yeah Lord I know exactly what you are going to do. If he had said “yes” he would have been presumptuous. Ezekiel didn’t say “no Lord.” Had he said no he would have been doubting the power of the Lord God Almighty. Ezekiel said O Lord God, you alone know. He is the omniscient God as God is also the omnipotent God who can turn all the impossible to being possible!
Sometimes we look around the world we live in, we look at the corruption in society, we look at the crime, we look at racism in the work force AND NOW WE LOOK AT THE CRISIS WE ARE FACING (COVID-19) and we wonder if these bones can live. All we need to do is put it in capable hands and say “Lord God you alone knows.”
Matthew 19:26 “Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Jeremiah 32:17 that says “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”
God delights in doing the impossible! – God will make a way where there seems to be no way!
Psalms 42:11 "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."
Evangelist Rev. Bailey Smith says “Quit looking at your circumstances and look at God. A pessimist finds a problem in every opportunity, but an optimist finds opportunity in every problem. Don’t despair, for God is the answer.”
Another reason why there is hopelessness is that…
3. God’s Word activates our faith.
In times of crisis, we hear many words like opinions, theories, speculations, allegations but these words will only give us fear, worries and insecurities. What we need are words that will build up our faith and that could only be coming from God’s word.
Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
God’s word is the message of hope that we need. That’s why Ezekiel need to hear God’s word, His answer to His own question!
Ezekiel 37:4-8 "4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.' " 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them."
It would appear absurd to address "dry bones". Picture Ezekiel standing in the middle of the battlefield among the corpses preaching to piles of bones. But God’s ways are not man’s ways.
Ezekiel speaks at the Divine command the Divine message. He speaks for God and they who listen hear the voice of God. When God’s Word goes forth, things begin to happen.
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Every situation has an ear so that when it hears God’s word, it has nothing to do but to accomplish it.
Isaiah 55:11 “so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Are we lacking faith so we can believe that there is really hope in our hopelessness?
In the midst of hopelessness, we not only need to activate (buhayin) our faith but let…
4. God’s Spirit actualize our faith.
It is not enough that we activate our faith but let God actualize it through His Spirit.
Man was formed according God’s image but then after He formed it, He breathe unto it so that it may live. We need God’s Spirit, His Holy Spirit to actualize what we believe, those hope that we cling on to, we need His Spirit to actualize it in our lives.
Once more Ezekiel need to prophesy in…
Ezekiel 37:9-10 " Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army."
In this time of hopelessness, we need these kinds of armies, armies who are led by the Spirit of God to pray and bombard the heavenlies with worships and praises to God.
Acts 1:8 says “You shall receive power (to actualize our faith) when the Holy Spirit comes upon you”. Look how the Holy Spirit changed the lives of the apostles and the early believers, it can still happen today even in the times of hopelessness.
A.W. Tozer in "Born after Midnight" wrote: Religious instruction, however sound, is not enough by itself. It brings light, but it cannot impart sight. The assumption that light and sight are synonymous has brought spiritual tragedy to millions.
The Pharisees looked straight at the Light of the World for 30 years, but not one ray of light reached their inner beings. Light is not enough. The inward operation of the Holy Spirit is necessary to saving faith. The gospel is light but only the Spirit can give sight.
It's not enough that we know God’s word, but we need God’s Spirit to actualize our faith so we can have new life, a new hope in this season of hopelessness.
2 Corinthians 3:17 "Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
Holy Spirit’s control will replace sin’s control. His power is greater than the power of all our sin.
If we have the Holy Spirit on the inside, we can stand any kind of battle on the outside. – ex David and King Saul’s battle
1 John 4:4 "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world…"
Conclusion:
In the midst of hopelessness…God allows it because He is the answer to all of our sufferings. We only need to activate our faith and actualize it so it can turn to reality. Are we ready now to declare that there is really hope in the midst of our hopelessness?
God already has the hope that we need to win the battle against Covid-19. And all we need is to see it in the eyes of God. Because He already saw how this pandemic would end for His Glory. We need to continuously pursue this hope by believing it and living it today!
Illustration:
The story of Walt Disney when he pursues Disneyworld.
When Disney World in Orlando, Florida. opened in 1974, Mrs. Disney was sitting beside Walter Cronkite, an American broadcast journalist. He was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" by giving an honest opinions and credible reports to his media coverage.
Walt Disney has passed away a few years earlier. Walter Cronkite wanted to say just the right thing to Mrs. Disney, so he leaned over to her and said, "Wouldn't it be great if Walt was here to see this today." Mrs. Disney wisely replied, "If Walt had not first seen this you would not be seeing it today."
That’s right church, If God did not saw our victory on this pandemic, we will not be here until today. Why? Because God is our hope in the midst of our hopelessness!
Can we sing a song to God right now by singing that line…
You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness
And I look to You
And I wait on You
I'll sing to You, Lord
A hymn of love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
