‘When the gospel is preached and lived, people cannot for ever be indifferent. But the church in Sardis has avoided such discomfort. Like Chameleon, it has simply melted into its surroundings and become indistinguishable from them. It has become outstandingly successful at the art of camouflage’ – Stephen Travis

Lent offers us opportunity to hear the creative word of God anew for personal and church revival. The dry bones in Ezekiel 37 that could not hear or respond to God’s word, can now hear and move into mission and evangelism. Revival is always preceded by a desperate condition and this hopeless condition is always renewed by divine and prophetic prevailing voices and prayers. The result of the prophetic voice is the raising of a dynamic army of God in Ezekiel 37. Prophetic vision can be very terrible, frightening and even ghastly like the Ezekiel vision of a large valley, full of dry bones of the ten northern tribes captured and exiled by Assyria in 772 BC. The entire house of Israel is represented as a valley full of dead and decaying bones, a great many bones, hundreds of thousands of bones. Stephen Travis in his book, The Church Under Fire, provides a semblance of dry bone with the condition of the church in Sardis, harmless and ineffective (Rev 3:1-6). According to Travis, ‘when the gospel is preached and lived, people cannot for ever be indifferent. But the church in Sardis has avoided such discomfort. Like Chameleon, it has simply melted into its surroundings and become indistinguishable from them. It has become outstandingly successful at the art of camouflage.’

Ezekiel’s vision and Travis example speaks to us today of a large valley of secularism, full of spiritual dry bones, avoiding the discipline and Prophetic Truth of God’s word. Just as the dry bone in the valley had a long history, the valley of secularism is not a recent occurrence. Secularism has been redefining the Christian faith and teachings for a long time and most of the Biblical marrow and spiritual sap have been drained from the church, family and nation hence, we are in ‘utter hopelessness and desolation,’ and decline.

Prophetic Lent speaks and offers opportunity for renewal and hope. Lent as a time of preparation provides assurance that all hope is not lost, dead and dry bones can rise again. Prevailing Lent provides opportunity to engage ourselves with God’s desire and heartbeat for revival. With God, there is no impossibility, impossible can be possible through prophetic voice and prevailing prayers. The Word of God is still working just as the prophetic words in the beginning brought the creation into existence. The Word of God is the principal activator of the supernatural in the pool of miracle that God endowed upon His prophetic preachers.

During this Lent, God is saying to the Ezekiels of today, to the preachers of today, just say the Word, just act in obedience to the voice of Jesus Christ. Preaching for revival and salvation of souls goes beyond philosophical arguments and debates. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives abundant life (2 Cor 3:6). The task of today’s preachers for the dry bones to come alive is to speak God’s word, echoing what God says. When we preach prophetically just as Ezekiel did under divine unction, there will be movement in the lifeless valley of dry bones. Preaching without conviction of our sins corrupts the church life and decline follows. Preaching without conviction of sin promotes pride of life and lust of the flesh.

The tragedy in the church today is that, there are lot of noises, rattling sound, conferencing, meetings, and activities, bones coming to bones, bones declining, becoming corpses. Until  the preachers and leaders hearts are repositioned and ready to obey the simple Gospel call, to speak and act according to God’s Word, the breath, the wind of God’s Spirit will not come. It is the Holy Spirit that gives life just as life came upon the dry bones and they stood up on their feet – ‘a vast army.’ The revelation is that there is a vast army in the church today who are dry spiritually, they are waiting for preachers and leaders like Ezekiel whose hearts are repositioned as a Spirit-filled vessel and not just as a college-trained professional or philosopher. As Spirit filled and obedient preachers, when we say what God said, the supernatural is activated with wonders and miracles following. The church needs the mighty army to move the church of God forward in revival. Revival is coming again, prophetic preaching is coming back to our pulpit for spiritual reawakening again. With God all things are possible.

Prayer: O Lord reposition the hearts of our preachers so as to always echoing God’s creative word and power in Jesus name.