By the late Rev. CHRISTOPHER MUNRO, Strathy.
Preached at Kilmuir, Skye, on February 22nd, 1867.
IN the last discourse on this passage is made some observations on the command given to Ezekiel to prophesy upon the dry, dry bones, and on the message given him to declare unto them, and the effects produced, which were that each bone came to its bone, that sinews were laid on them, that flesh came upon them, and they were covered with skin. But still there was no life in them. It is evident that, unless the work had gone on further, and if it had come to a stand at this stage, that they would soon fall back into their former condition, or be reduced to bones again. The only thing that could prevent this was the communication of life. This life is from the Lord God, for He is the living One, the fountain, the author of life. But, though this be true, He employs Ezekiel in performing this part of His work also, and gives him particular instructions concerning it. His former instructions were to address the bones, to declare their character and the Lord’s purpose concerning them; but now he is commanded to direct his words to a different object, namely, to the wind. In doing it, he was not to use his own words, but, as in the former case, he was confined to those put into his mouth by the Lord. “Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath,” etc.
Considering this literally, it is a well-known fact that no man can live without air, as also that wind is air in motion. Sometimes it is at rest, and when that is the case nothing stirs, and no sound is made by it. The lightest body is not stirred, and the waters of the sea and of lakes are at perfect rest and smooth like a mirror. But when the air moves, all this is reversed. Man, however, can live in it in either state. In order to this, it must enter his lungs and be respired, and this respiration of the air is what is called breath, and in common language is taken for life. But though it is essential to life, it is not life itself; for air may be blown into a dead man’s lungs, but this will not restore life. These two things, however, must go together, the principle of life and respiration. “Come, O breath, from the four winds, and breathe upon these slain,” were the words which he was commanded to address the wind; and they may be considered as a prayer to God for life. And as he prophesied breath came into them. It did not only breathe upon them, but entered them. The Spirit entered into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army; not a multitude of people, but men prepared for battle.
The Jews on their return from Babylon had to meet enemies, some perhaps on the way, and others, as we know to have been the case, in the land of Judea, who attempted to put a stop to the work they had to carry on in building Jerusalem and the temple. Thus they required courage, prudence, steadfastness and armour, all of which they wanted during their bondage, for they looked upon themselves as dead men, for whom there was no hope. Now, however, they were revived or begotten to a lively hope, and stood up like men upon their feet, and were ready to undertake their journey to Jerusalem, not daunted by the dangers of the way, nor by the difficulties that they might meet on their arrival. They had men of God among them, godly priests and inspired prophets, who trusted in their God and encouraged the people to trust in Him too. And we know that their hope was not disappointed.
In applying these observations in the same manner as we did on the former occasions, we shall find some important doctrines of the gospel illustrated by them.
1. It is the Spirit’s work to quicken or impart life to the dead.
“It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.” The Spirit, you know, is the third person of the Trinity, and in all God’s works He has His proper part to perform. This, we are told, He had in the work of erection. The material of earth and of the heavens was produced or created by the Son in accordance with the will and instructions of the Father. And when the mass of these things was made, then, we are told, that the Spirit of God moved or brooded on the face of the waters, by which we are taught that He was the Author of that life which pervades all creation. He had His share of the work of preparing a body for the Son, as you all may know. In applying the redemption purchased by Christ, His part is to render the gospel call effectual, and to sanctify and comfort believers. In doing this work He comes forth from the Father and the Son. That this is so may be seen here. “I will put breath into you, I will give you the Spirit, pour him forth unto you, and put him within you.” The Spirit is omnipresent; but it does not follow from this that He quickens all, or that He enters into all as the Spirit of life. The prophet was commanded to call, as if it were, on the four winds to blow, in order to put breath into the dead bodies that now were lying around, which intimates that a particular effort of divine power or of the Spirit’s power must be put forth in order to quicken any sinner.
There are some who maintain that the Spirit has been given to all men in the same sense, and that it depends on themselves whether they profit by it or not. This is contrary to Scripture and to experience. “The wind bloweth where it listeth.” So comes the Spirit, according to the Saviour’s teaching. He is said to be poured, and He is said to come and to work. And whatever He resolves to do cannot be frustrated; His power is omnipotent; nothing is too hard for Him. When He comes to one who is to be quickened, nothing can resist His power. His coming after this manner is of His sovereign will; He is free, unrestrained. “The Spirit of grace and supplication” is one of the titles given Him in Scripture. That means that, as salvation is of grace, so the Spirit’s coming is of grace. And yet men are commanded to pray for His coming, as Ezekiel was commanded here to prophesy unto the wind or the breath. It is His command and must be obeyed.
2. All things are of God, but His will is that man should ask them in prayer.
It is His will that man should thus believe and realise his need of them—understand their value to some extent and who it is that can bestow them, and the manner in which He gives them—so that when man receives them, or any of them, he may give the whole glory to God, the author of every good and perfect gift. The duty of all, and especially of the Church, is to pray for the Spirit of promise. This was what Ezekiel did on the occasion mentioned here. It was not a command of his own to the wind he uttered, but the Lord’s. It is therefore the Lord’s purpose and promise to send the Spirit that the Church has to plead, which surely forms a sufficient ground of hope and expectation. “Thy dead men shall live; with my dead body shall they arise.” All His people shall live. There is no period of time during which some of them are not found alive, and others are to be quickened. The living are called upon to pray for the Spirit’s coming to quicken the dead, and their prayers shall not be disregarded. When He comes, then they live and rise up like an army. Formerly they were dead, doing no good, but living in trespasses and sins. They came to know this; they felt their deadness, felt their sinful and miserable condition, felt their bondage to the law, to sin and Satan. They received the Spirit as the Spirit of bondage, that is, to show them and let them feel that they were really in a state of bondage, which filled them with fear, a fear of God, in which love and confidence had no part—fear of death, of hell, and of wrath. They were brought low and felt themselves dead. When the Spirit breathes in them to give life, they are begotten to a lively hope that relieves them from despair, that enables them to trust in God or rest on Christ Jesus as freely offered in the gospel.
3. Those spoken of here are represented, after being quickened, as a great army, which teaches us, like many other passages of Scripture, that believers have to fight in this life.
This implies that there are enemies to fight. Enemies are those who are near them and hate them, and have power to annoy and hurt them. These are the devil, the world, and the flesh which compose a numerous and powerful host that have taken up their position in proximity to them. Satan goes about seeking whom he may devour; he is never at rest, and has a numerous army at his command. He is the god of this world, and all the evil principles at work among men are under his command. There never was a more formidable enemy, and none who has had a greater army. There have been some generals among men who have made war and conquest their chief business, and who have been looked upon by whole nations as objects of fear and terror. At the beginning of the present age there was a general who struck all the nations of Europe with terror at one period or another of his extraordinary career. I remember people speaking of the state of alarm in which our own country was when it became known that he had intentions of invading our shores. But he was little or insignificant in comparison to the enemy that marches up and down through the whole earth seeking whom he may devour. He is not seen, and therefore he is not dreaded by the most. Yea, the most of men are in his camp, and fight with him against the Lord and His anointed. The world is another enemy—things seen and temporal—and from the hold that these things have on the mind and heart of man, it is called an enemy and acts the part of one in withdrawing the heart from allegiance to God and in keeping man so occupied that he finds no time to seek or serve the Lord. The flesh is another enemy, and is so because of its sinful desires and inclinations, its love of sensible things, its blindness, its unbelief, its indolence, its selfishness, its self-righteousness, self-wisdom, self-confidence, in one word, its rebellion against the divine will as revealed in the law and the gospel. It is the nearest enemy, and so the most dangerous.
4. The battle is the Lord’s.
He is the King of the army consisting of living souls. They receive Him as such: they enlist under His banner: they follow Him and endeavour to act under His instructions. His first instruction to them is that they put on armour both for defence and offence. Where are they to get armour? They are poor and cannot procure any, God has an armoury, and being their King, He provides them with a complete panoply. You know what those weapons are—that they are not carnal but spiritual, and must be used by all, both by men and women, for parties of either sex are taken for soldiers in this warfare. They must not then enter the army without weapons, for their enemies are provided with weapons also; they have arrows which are sharp, and bows that can shoot to a great distance. Satan has fiery darts for souls, by which he can wound and cast down if he cannot kill. The tongues of evil men are sharp swords; their teeth are spears, and they too have arms for defence. Their power, their craft, and want of all godly fear may be considered defensive weapons. They use gins and snares, and dig pits for taking those who are off their guard. The protection of living souls against these is to put on their armour and make use of it, and to follow and keep near the general, who is Christ, their king and captain. And as the warfare may be protracted, they need support, which again must come from the King. “My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness.” “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” The promises of the covenant, together with the Holy Ghost and the fulness of Christ, constitute the provision made for them, and are such as shall never be exhausted, but shall keep up their life and vigour and hearts till the conflict is terminated. There are times of respite and days of battle, of hard-contested fields in this warfare; some of a more manifest, others of a more hidden nature; and the latter may prove more dangerous and terrible than the former.
5. There is a reward appointed by the King for each warrior, which is an inheritance in the heavenly Canaan.
Each tribe and each family in Israel had an inheritance allotted for them in the land promised to Abraham. They had all to fight for the country, and when it was subdued they received their inheritance by lot. Each was satisfied with his own, for there was no quarrel among them with regard to any of their lots. So here each shall receive what the Lord will appoint him, and with that he shall be satisfied for ever, and in enjoying it, shall serve and praise God as the God of his salvation.
We have now gone over the principal points in this passage, namely, man’s original state, his state as a sinner, the means employed for bringing him to life, and the manner in which that life manifests itself, namely, by knowing God and engaging in the spiritual warfare.
We all have come into the world spiritually dead, and there is no way of deliverance from it and from eternal death, but one way, even through Christ and by being made partakers of the redemption purchased by Him. God’s way of applying this redemption is by certain appointed means, which he has made known in His Word. Some of these are external, such as the Word read and preached, the sacraments and prayer; the other is spiritual and unseen, the Holy Spirit. He commands the Word to be read and preached, and at the same time commands men to hear it. He promises the Spirit, and exhorts all to seek the Spirit.
This then is our duty. Do you desire life? Use the means in dependence on the Spirit. Give the Spirit no rest. Beware of resisting Him, lest He cease striving with you. Rest not in the means, for of themselves they cannot quicken you, and therefore cannot save you. Do you ask the Spirit? Those, who never pray, do not ask Him. And there is none here to whose ear this command of God has not come, and why do you refuse it obedience? “I cannot pray” you may perhaps reply. Why not? “O, I do not know how to pray.” Well, this would be a very good errand for you to God, namely, to beg of Him to teach you. Cannot you tell Him your ignorance, your inability, aye, and your unwillingness to pray? Tell Him your carelessness, your folly, and beg of Him to teach you and make you wise. And let me tell you this, that if you do not begin till you first know how to pray you will never pray. “The living” pray, and must not faint, and yet they never think that they can pray as they ought. “But if I should begin to pray I would then be looked upon as a hypocrite, unless I gave up my folly and vanity, and many things in which I delight.” And what is the meaning of this saying or sentiment? It is plainly that you are too fond of sin, and will be by no arguments persuaded to turn from it unto God. Will you say then that you make choice of it for ever, that you choose the pleasures of sin, which are but for a moment, along with everlasting torment, in preference to life and eternal happiness with Christ? You will not allow the case to be so, but it is nothing less; and God grant that you may not be convinced of the truth of it at last by actual experience.
If you have been quickened by the Spirit, you are a soldier in God’s army, and here you must fight. Some, when they begin to think of religion, are ready to imagine that, were they to get faith, to get the Spirit and Christ, then they would have a life of peace and joy, ease and comfort here. No doubt this is partly true, but their life of faith is on the whole a life of conflict. They are called unto this; there is provision made for them, there is armour and a Captain; and there are enemies in abundance to beset their path. They who are called then must know this, must understand their position. Do you clearly understand, do you know your enemies? Do you know how they carry on their warfare, do you resist them by the armour of God? If so, then you must be a living soul. Let not such expect anything here but fighting, watching and praying, and in doing this let them remember who is their strength, their shield, who can teach their hands to fight and their fingers to conflict. Look unto Jesus, your Captain, and when overwhelmed by numbers cry for help, and He will always prove a ready help in time of need. Faint not, yield not; but resist steadfastly. And to encourage you, look forward to the prize of the calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The time is short in which you have to fight, and the hotter it may be, the shorter most likely its duration is to be. And if you are faithful unto death, you shall be made more than conqueror, and then you shall have peace, rest and enjoyment at home, where no enemy shall ever appear to threaten, annoy or wound you. Then you shall stand in Mount Zion above with the Lamb, and sing a new song, which none but the redeemed shall know. You shall stand on the sea of glass which is before the Throne with harps in your hands and walk the streets paved with gold in white robes, following the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.
Where then shall His enemies appear? Where can appear the unbeliever, the impure, the unrighteous the unholy? Shall they be in existence? Yes; for none shall ever be reduced to nothing. It is fearful to think of their condition then. Is it not high time for us all to ask with all earnestness, “Where then shall we be?” for each to ask, “Where shall I be?” If you die Christless, you must perish; you must be shut out of heaven, and never see life there, never sing nor be joyful and happy, but be filled with woe for ever.