I can't believe we are in our final week of our "Help Is Here" study with Max Lucado,
and it has been an amazing, amazing time together. We've heard incredible stories
of how the Holy Spirit has spoken and how He has moved. We've had some testimonies that just really
lend proof to everything that Max has said — that God still works and moves today through
His Holy Spirit. So Max, thank you for just spurring on the Holy Spirit's work in our midst.
Well, I'm so excited. I cannot think of a more important, more timely topic than,
than this. I mean, if we're going to understand anything the Bible shares with us,
we would want to understand about His Spirit. And I can't think of a
people, a group of people, with whom I'm more excited to discuss it than you all.
Aw, thank you, Max, that makes us feel good over here. It's time to move on to our next
question. So, I'm gonna give you a little setup for it. Just some things I wanted to share. But
it's always affirming to hear stories of the Holy Spirit's work, like when we hear it about in other
people's lives. But honestly, when it comes to our own lives, and I know I've been here,
we don't feel or see or hear the Holy Spirit, or it doesn't feel like we are. And so, when,
when that happens, when there's total silence on, on God's side from us, then we tend to wonder. You
know, "Is God really there? Is the Spirit really at work? Are my prayers really being listened to
and answered?" And for me personally, when I have those moments, what helps me the most
is, and encourages me the most, is to go to the Word. Because it's there in the
Word that I'm reminded of the Spirit's work. So that brings me to our last question, Max.
Could you just take some time to share snapshots of the Holy Spirit's work in
Scripture — especially His role like in creation, and in the main events in the Bible like Jesus'
birth, His death, His resurrection — so that when we have those moments where we doubt,
we can go back to Scripture and remember these stories as shared and seen through your eyes?
I'm happy to discuss that and, and I think I would like to approach that question by reviewing one of
the great stories, great portraits, of someone being led by the Holy Spirit in the Bible,
and it's a crazy story. I mean, it's just so full of surprises and, and activity. It
involves a prophet by the name of Ezekiel, and he was a radical. He was a wide-eyed prophet,
and he served as a thorn in the collective side of Israel during the sixth century BC.
He was ever on the Hebrews' case. He was always telling them to turn away from foreign idols and
move toward the living God, but they did not listen. And consequently, the nation
experienced an utter annihilation at the hands of the Babylonians in 587 BC. The city was ransacked,
the magnificent temple was destroyed. I try to envision Washington, D.C. lying in smoke
and embers, with the Capitol building demolished and the White House burned down. And that's what
they were facing. Those once-proud Hebrews were marched out of their homeland. And they were taken
to exile, to Babylonia, and that's where they declared, "Our bones are dried up, our hope is
gone. We are destroyed" (Ezekiel 37:11). And the book of Psalms has a lament, a verse of
lamentations, from them. In Psalm 137 and verse 1, "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and
wept. There we remembered Zion," and then, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?"
So, they were in exile, and the exile was a catastrophe. But God had other plans.
He had never abandoned His people. They may have abandoned Him, but He never abandoned them. My
Bible is open to the book of Ezekiel. I want to read what God said to the children of Israel as
they were exiled in Babylonian captivity. "For here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to take
you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I'll
pour water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you,
I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed,
not self-willed" (Ezekiel 36:24-26). Here it is, "I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible
for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands" (Ezekiel 36:27). See, the work of the
Spirit is to give us not only the want-to, but the can-do, the want-to and the can-do, He makes it
possible. And then God said, "You will once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will
be my people! I'll be your God" (Ezekiel 36:28). And Ezekiel goes on to say, "God's Spirit took
me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain that was strewn with bones" (Ezekiel 37:1).
Now, God is the one who's active in this rescue mission, right?
God is the one who's active. He's going to rescue, He will gather, He will cleanse, and He will give
the people a new heart. And most importantly, He will put His Spirit in them. As a result,
they will obey God's commands. Let me just pause right here. Because the person who says,
"How do I know God's Spirit is in me?" To that person, I would say, "The fact that you're even
asking that question is assurance that God's Spirit is in you. There was a time in your
life you didn't even ask that question." That's true for me. There was a time in my life when I
did not — well, I may have paid lip service to God's commands — but I did not want to follow.
I wasn't interested in the presence of the Holy Spirit. So, simply the fact that you're
wondering if I have the Holy Spirit within me is an indication that the Holy Spirit is within you.
Now, I find this to be a wonderful assurance that God will place His Spirit within us and give us
the ability to fulfill commands. Ezekiel thought this was a stunning assurance. Consequently,
a field trip was in order, so I'm picking back up in Ezekiel 37. "God's Spirit took me up and
set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones." I told you this was a crazy story.
"He led me around and among them — a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain — dry
bones, bleached by the sun" (Chapter 37 verses 1-2). This is Death Valley. There's no life to
be found. There's no children playing, no sweethearts kissing, no musicians singing,
no dancers dancing. Only bones. Dry bones. And God asked Ezekiel, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
Wow, that's a question. I've never been to the valley that Ezekiel visited.
But I sat next to a person on a flight who told me that his life had lost all meaning.
I've never walked the valley of dry bones, but I've listened to a suicidal mother describe a
dark place from which she could not find an exit. I've never stepped through a field of femurs and
rib cages, but I have spoken to a young man whose life was rubbed raw by opioid addiction. I've
not gazed at acres of fleshless forms, but I've witnessed the proud left wordless at a funeral,
not knowing what to say at this unwelcome reminder of death. I've not found myself ankle deep in dry
bones, but I have looked in the mirror and seen a pastor with a dry faith and wondered if this hard
heart could ever soften again. Can these bones live? The prophet was a man of vision. But not
enough vision to venture an answer. In verse 3, he says, "Sovereign Lord, you alone know."
And then he said to me, watch this, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, 'O, dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to
enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you,
and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live and you shall know that I am
the Lord." The prophet did what he was told. And as he prophesied, Ezekiel heard this rattling,
this grand rattling. And these bones clicked and clattered, and they reconnected. And sinew
appeared out of nowhere to hinge the joints, and skin spread and refleshed the skeletons. And the
ravine of bones became a collection of bodies. But the bodies still had no breath, no life.
There was no evidence of beating hearts or breathing lungs. So, God told the prophet to
let loose another proclamation. "He said, prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to
the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain,
so that they may live.' So, Ezekiel writes, "I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath
came to them, and they lived and stood on their feet, in an exceedingly great army." Is this not
the greatest story? The point, apart from the Spirit we may have bones, we may have flesh,
we may have scalps, may have teeth, but we have no life. He, and He alone, is the giver of life.
And lest we miss the message, God delivers the punch line. "I will put my Spirit within you and
you shall live, I will place you in your own land. And you shall know that I am the Lord;
I have spoken it, and will do it, declares the Lord." That's verse 14. God kept His promise. The
Hebrews returned to their homeland some 70 years later. He will do so again in the new kingdom.
But what the Spirit did then — here's what you need to know — He will do again for you
today. Jesus said, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all" (John 6:63).
This emptiness you feel? This zombie-ness? Won't be healed by a new house, spouse, job or jewelry.
A different date or weight might feel good, but the deep lasting change that you need? Only the
Spirit can give it. And please hear me. He will give it. He will! Dry marriage? He can enliven
it. Dead-end career? The Spirit can breathe on it. Scattered remnants of yesterday's dreams?
The Spirit of God can reassemble and rekindle them. Maybe you feel like you've been marched
into Babylonian captivity? Well, the Spirit can turn captives into an army. It is not
His will that you lead a lifeless life. He will breathe on your dry bones. It simply falls on you
to be an Ezekiel. I know you're surprised. You say, "Me, an Ezekiel?" Well, my invitation has
nothing to do with changing your name, moving to Israel, or looking like a prophet. It has
everything to do with your willingness to do what Ezekiel did — to invite the Spirit into the
dry and dead patches of your world. You see, the story of the dry bones and Death Valley is
so dramatic that we might miss a stunning element of this miracle. Ezekiel was invited to invite it.
God told him to prophesy. And once he did — and only once he did — the wind of heaven
began to blow. Now, what if the prophet had refused? What if he had declined? What
if Ezekiel had heard the word and walked away, saying that's ... well, what people say today,
"That's too supernatural for me." Or "I'm too small-time to be partnering with God."
Or "He must have me confused with someone better, bigger or holier." But Ezekiel didn't. And you?
The breath of heaven is awaiting your invitation. I encourage you.
Go to the Spirit of Christ. Invite the Spirit to blow fresh strength, fresh power, over whatever
portion of your life that you would describe as dead or dying. Just say, "I welcome you,
Holy Spirit. I welcome you into my marriage. I welcome you into my health. I welcome you into
my career. I welcome you, Spirit, I welcome you." The Spirit does not coerce, does not cajole, does
not force His way into our lives. But He enters when welcomed, so for heaven's sake welcome Him.
And that may seem too simple. We tend to complicate this matter of receiving the Spirit.
We create seven secrets of walking in the Spirit or ten requirements for receiving the
Spirit or holy hints about the Holy Spirit. Yet, the Spirit of God is not a computer
to be programmed. He is a person to be welcomed. So welcome Him today.
Whew! You brought tears to my eyes. That is so beautiful, hearing you bring that
story alive like I have never heard before. Thank you. That was just a precious gift,
and it really moved me deeply. So, thank you. Ooh, I just want to say that this has been an
amazing four weeks! Honestly, to just sit at your feet and listen to what the Lord has taught you
through the Holy Spirit, and how you so faithfully put it in the pages of this book. And honestly, I
can't think of a better way, a more precious way, to prepare our hearts for Christmas. As that's
what we're going to be doing in a few weeks, is celebrating Christmas. So Max, thank you for
giving of your time. We know how busy you are, but you just were here and made the time to be with us
each week to open the Word. And I have to say, we just treasure every moment and every word you've
shared with us. So thank you from the bottom of my heart and the heart of our entire team.
Well, it's my honor, it really is. Thank you so much. And I treasure this time as well.
Let me pray for us. Father, I'm just gonna do what Max asked, and Father, help us to be
Ezekiels. God, we want You to take us on field trips. For everyone that's just walking through
this book with us together, show us in fresh ways and in Your power. Just lift us out of
the depths of despair, anxiety, emptiness, fear, unforgiveness, grief, addiction, chronic pain,
Father, whatever is happening — the hard things in life, hardened hearts maybe — just bring us to
life again, as you did Ezekiel. Let us hear the Word of the Lord, breathe the breath of life,
breathe Your hope, breathe Your peace, breathe Your joy, breathe Your healing into our lives,
Father. Make us feel You and love You and know You like we never have before. Father, let Your Spirit
fall and do mighty work, so that we can take that and then go out into the world and do the very
same thing that Ezekiel did and bring dry bones back to life. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
I'm going to leave you with the words but I want them to really sink into your hearts — that
when you know this Truth that Max has opened up, and when we begin to live this Truth,
it changes everything, and it's not just changing us. When we change us, we change the world around
us. So let's know the Truth and live the Truth because it changes everything.