Quickening
For Dry Bones
By Manuel Seymour
"The hand
of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD,
and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And
caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many
in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son
of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O
ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these
bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
And I will lay 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 the LORD." (Ezekiel 37:1-6)
Brethren,
there are two great temptations that the saints of God become easy prey
for entrapment. One is walking through this life with rose colored glasses
- everything is just roses, peaches and ice cream as we tip toe through
the tulips; the other is that everyone is going to hell but us four and
no more. As a result the lukewarmness of the Laodiceans has become an every
day "normal" way of life. I fear that far too many of the saints have become
entrapped and have forsaken their ambassadorships and discarded their robes
of sojourners. They are content in Babylon!
What would we honestly see if the Spirit of the living God opened our hearts
and eyes? I believe that we would all be shocked at the multitude of dead
people we would see all around us - dead in trespasses and sin. The valley
of very very dry bones is not just across the seas in foreign lands!!!
We are in the very midst of mountains of dry bones. Our beloved land of
America has become a grave yard, yea, even a dumping ground of the dead.
Our beloved America began with the hope of freedom of religion, now religion
is being shackled day-by-day back into brutal slavery and censorship. We
used to have Statesmen who stood firmly for the forefathers’ purpose of
one nation under God, and stood in the capital to secure a representation
for the people that this would ever hold true. In my opinion, sadly, all
the Statesmen have died and we find ourselves under the sovereignty of
Politicians whose only ambitions seems to be self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment.
I personally no longer believe they are for the people, but for how much
they can abuse and deceive the people. One nation under God and answerable
to God is no longer in my opinion in any Congressional considerations.
Politically, morally, and spiritually we are in the deeps of valleys with
mountains of very very very dry bones. Brethren, the alarm desperately
needs to go out that we might redeem the times for the evil days are upon
us. Shall we continue to slumber while the battle rages?
There have been times through the ages when our forefathers of the faith
have witnessed the mighty moving Spirit of the living God upon the people.
They felt and experienced the heavenly breath of God blowing into them
and sweeping the countryside with life giving breath - eternal life. They
witnessed what the power of God could do when He set forth to breathe quickening
life into very very dry bones of the land. The inhabitants were no more
desirous of God given life than they are in our days; but it is written:
"Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power," (Psalms
110:3)
God is still the Eternal Sovereign God of the heavens and the earth!!!!!!!!!
Who can stay His power or shield themselves from His breath? "Thus saith
the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into
you, and ye shall live:" It was not a question; it was not would you like
to; it was not I will meet you half way; it was not I will hold it out
and all you have to do is take it; NO, NO, NO, a thousand times NO!!!!!
God said "I WILL CAUSE BREATH TO ENTER INTO YOU, AND YE SHALL LIVE:"!!!
Can that which is dead defy the living God? This same God that the prophet
Ezekiel believed and Whom our forefathers believed is still upon His sovereign
throne and is just as powerful today as He was before the creation of the
world!!!!! I believe in this same God of the Bible!!!!!! Don’t you????
Brethren, my heart breaks for America! There are plagues after plagues
upon the land, the righteous are dying and few are taking it to heart.
It is way beyond time for the saints to cry out unto our God for the breath
of His quickening power to come upon these very very dry bones through
out the land. He has said you have not because you ask not or because you
wish to consume it upon your own lust. This is not a time for self-centeredness;
this is a time for a coming together for a common purpose in the cause
of Christ and for His name sake. We can be scattered by individual pet-peeves,
or we can join our spirits upon the Rock of the Ages and to the Holy Scriptures
- the Word of Truth once delivered to the saints of old. Did He not say,
"Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear
the word of the LORD."? Is there not still power in the Word of the
Lord?
But, Brethren, this quickening does not come by accident. Only the Sovereign
Eternal God of the heavens and the earth decides when He shall breathe
out His quickening power in the valley of the very very dry bones. But,
it shall only be to secure the knowledge of the fact that "ye shall
know that I am the LORD." It shall not be for our glory but for the
eternal glory of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are no more than mere
instruments in the Master's hands. All glory rightfully belongs to Him!!
Yet, what shall we do, Brethren? The valley we are in is swallowed up in
very very dry bones! Brethren, we must begin at once to bend our knees
and bow our head ever so humbly in honest sincere prayers and pleadings
for the blessing of the power of His breath to breathe life into the land,
to quake the land by the might of His presence, that He would call out
His dry bones, set them upon their feet, breathe His Spirit into them,
and grow an army of saints that will occupy the land until He gathers us
at our journey's end.
Brethren, I believe in the eternal power of God and the strength of the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I realize some will say, "Well, we are
in the last days and few are going to hear and come." Brethren, that is
fatalism, a blessing for Satan, and the spirit of Laodicea. Let us not
be guilty of such nonsense! May the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ set
our souls on fire with a heavenly zeal !!!
When Charles H. Spurgeon went to London and found such deadness there,
he told them: "... we will cry to the Lord until He reveals His face again.
... All we want is the Spirit of God. Dear Christian friends, go home and
pray for it; give yourselves no rest till God reveals Himself; do not tarry
where you are, do not be content to go on in your everlasting jog-trot
as you have done; do not be content with the mere round of formalities.
Awake, O Zion, awake, awake, awake! ... The Lord send a blessing. He must
send it, our hearts will break if He does not." (The Forgotten Spurgeon
by Iain Murray pgs. 34,35)
Brethren, should we do any less? May the sweet God of the heavens and the
earth grant such a quickening upon our beloved America!!!!!!!!!!! To your
knees Brethren, to your knees, and cry out as you have never cried before
that the Father may be pleased to send forth His breath upon these very
very dry bones which compass us all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From the depths of the love of Christ Jesus our Lord,
Pastor: Dr. Manuel J. Seymour, Sr.
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