Today I'm going to begin a new series of messages
that I pray with all of my heart will be a real
inspiration, a genuine blessing to you. I mean
that. I want more than anything in the world
that this new series of messages shall do something
to you that will take you deeper in the things
of God than you have ever gone before, that will
make you appreciate your salvation more than
ever, and that will give you a clearer understanding
and knowledge of the Word of God. This new series
of messages will be on the resurrection. And
as I... close my little heart -to -heart talk
today. I'll go just as far as I possibly can.
Then I shall continue with the same subject in
my next heart -to -heart talk with you until
we have covered all three of these resurrections.
For the Scriptures clearly speak of three definite
kinds of resurrection. a national resurrection,
a spiritual resurrection, and that all -important
resurrection, the material resurrection. All
right, for just a very few minutes, let's begin
with the national resurrection. Of course, this
refers to Israel. And in the sixth chapter of
Hosea, in the Old Testament, the first two verses,
we read these words, Come, and let us return
unto the Lord, for he hath torn, and he will
heal us. He hath smitten, and he will bind us
up, and after two days he will revive us. In
the third day he will raise us up. and we shall
live in His sight. Oh, let me repeat a part of
that. This is very marvelous to remember something.
This is the very day, this is the very generation
that this portion of the Word of God is being
fulfilled before our very eyes. After two days,
Will he revive us? And in the third day he will
raise us up and we shall live in his sight. There
are several things in this passage worth noting.
First, we see from the context that the words
of the prophet are addressed conclusively to
the Jewish people and to the whole twelve tribes.
And these twelve tribes are represented by Ephraim
and Judah. Read it. It's there. The sixth chapter
of Hosea. And it is the whole house of Israel
that says, Come and let us return unto the Lord.
In these words, we have the cry of repentance,
not of an individual. But it's to cry repentance
of a nation that has been torn and smitten by
the Lord. It's not to cry a person's dead in
their graves. The healing does not refer to a
resurrection from the dead. And the binding means
that the whole twelve tribes will... be rebound
into one nation again in their own land. The
expression, will revive us, does not mean a resurrection
from physical death. For the word revive simply
means what we mean when we speak of a revival
religion, which is a... spiritual and not a physical
resurrection. Now, the remarkable statement in
the passage, this passage that I've just now
given to you, to me the most remarkable thing
about the whole passage is the time of the revival.
It says after two days. It's clear that those
Two days are not literal days or 24 hours. No.
For more than two such days have gone by. Sure.
For these words were spoken by the prophet about
B .C. 780 or about 2700 years ago. And... therefore,
must be interpreted on the scale of that one
day is with the Lord as a thousand years. Go
to 2 Peter, the third chapter, and it's about
the eighth verse. And you'll find the scripture
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years.
Taking that scale of time, We see that Israel
is now well along in the third thousand years
of her rejection. And it's been during this generation,
our generation, that the Jews have been regathered
and are now a nation and Israel is recognized.
as a nation by all other nations in the world.
Oh, to me, that's thrilling. It's marvelous.
You know, if it were suggested that we discuss
the future of any other nation than the Jewish
nation, I, for one, would not attempt it. The
task would be simply a speculative one based
on probabilities that would be likely to be upset
by unforeseen circumstances. But I want you to
know something. The Jewish nation has the unique
distinction of having for its historian the Holy
Spirit, who has not simply recorded the past
history of that nation, but has outlined the
future. We have the history, the complete history
of the Jewish people so far as their past is
concerned. If you want to know the future of
the Jewish people, if you want to know the future
of Israel, turn to God's precious word. Turn
to the Bible. And we have a perfect revelation.
regarding the future of this nation. Isn't that
marvelous? Oh, beloved, this should be not only
very thrilling to you and to me as Gentiles,
but I should think this would be one of the most
thrilling things in the world to the Jewish people.
Oh, this to me is marvelous. You know, long before
Israel... became a nation in our generation.
And of course that took place in 1948. May the
16th, 1948, when again the Jews were gathered
together and Israel was acknowledged, accepted
as a nation. Your generation, my generation,
and yet this thing was prophesied 2 ,500 years
ago. Sure, the restoration of the... was prophesied
2 ,500 years ago as a fact. I'm going to show
you in just a second how marvelous the Word of
God. The 30th chapter of Jeremiah. Oh, I know
there are folk who feel the Bible is outdated,
outmoded. It's the most up -to -date reading.
that we have in the world today. More up -to
-date, more informative than tomorrow morning's
newspaper or your world commentator tonight.
That's right. The 30th chapter of Jeremiah. Therefore
fear not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord.
Neither be dismayed, O Israel. For I am with
thee, saith the Lord, to save thee. Though I
make a full end of all nations, whether I have
scattered thee yet, will I not make a full end
of thee. I will bring again the captivity of
my people Israel, and they shall build the waste
cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant
vineyards and drink. the wine thereof. They shall
also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
And I will plant them upon their land, and they
shall no more be pulled up out of their land.
Oh, that's it. I've just read to you a portion
from the ninth chapter of Amos. That's it. But
somebody may say this prophecy was fulfilled
in the restoration from the Babylonian captivity.
Not so. For at that time they were driven out
of the land after that. And this promise is that
they shall no more be pulled up out of their
land. And this... was a future restoration. And
that restoration has taken place in our generation.
Let me go a little further with this. The 37th
chapter of Ezekiel, the same picture is given,
exactly the very same picture. Here it is. And
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. How often I've heard preachers using
this valley of dry bones regarding the dead spiritual
church members who fill their pews. I know some
of you ministers have an awful lot of dead bones
parked in your pews on Sunday morning. Oh, but
there's flesh on those bones. And this, of course,
the Word of God does not refer to Gentiles. It
does not refer to those dead, spiritually dead
church members that you've got in your churches.
This refers to the restoration of Israel. The
bones are the whole house of Israel who shall
one day live. The graves are the nations where
they dwell. Watch. And he said unto me, Son of
man, Can these bones live? There was a time for
generations when men and women the world over
wondered if the prophecy could possibly be fulfilled,
when the Jews who had been scattered to all corners
of the earth could be restored again as a nation.
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. Watch now. and I will lay sinews upon you,
and I will bring up flesh upon you, and I'll
cover you with skin, and I'll put breath in you,
and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am
the Lord. I'm reading God's word. Now, here is
something. Watch that 11th verse. Then he said
unto me, Son of man, these bones are. the whole
house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones
are dried, and our hope is lost. We are cut off
from our parts. Here comes the first of all the
resurrection, the national resurrection of Israel.
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord God. Behold, O my people, I will open
your graves. Here comes your national resurrection
of the Jewish people of Israel. I will open your
graves and cause you to come up out of your graves
and bring you into the land of Israel. And that
glorious resurrection of the Jewish people, of
Israel, has taken place in our generation. And
as surely as we have seen this national resurrection,
we will also experience the second resurrection,
which is spiritual, third resurrection, which
is material. God will keep his word. Amen.