Worship Helps for Pentecost
The Doubt: ‘Can these Dry Bones Live?’
by Henry
Alexander Bowler, 1855
Worship Theme: Many problems seem unsolvable, but in
Christ, our God is the God of the impossible. The day of Pentecost gave clear
evidence of the power of the Spirit of Jesus to change things dramatically.
Just as dead bones became living, breathing beings in Ezekiel's vision, so
people dead in sin become spiritually alive through the message the Holy Spirit
has orchestrated and communicated through believers.
Old Testament: Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord was upon me. He brought me out by
the Spirit of the Lord and set me
down in the middle of a valley, which was full of bones. 2He had me
pass through them and go all over among them. There were very many on the
valley floor, and they were very dry.
3He said to me, “Son of man, can these dry bones live?” I answered, “Lord God, you know.” 4Then he
said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word
of the Lord.’”
5This is what the Lord God says
to these bones.
I am about to make breath enter you so that you will live. 6I
will attach tendons to you. I will put flesh back on you. I will cover you with
skin and put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am the
Lord.
7So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I was prophesying there was
a noise, a rattling, as the bones came together, one bone connecting to
another. 8As I watched, tendons were attached to them, then flesh
grew over them, and skin covered them. But there was no breath in them.
9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the wind. Prophesy, son of man, and say to
the wind that this is what the Lord
God says. From the four winds, come, O wind, and breathe into these slain so
that they may live.”
10So I prophesied as he commanded me. Breath entered them, and they came back
to life. They stood on their feet, a very, very large army.
11Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are
the whole house of Israel. They are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up. Our hope
is lost. We have been completely cut off.’ 12Therefore, prophesy and
say to them that this is what the Lord
God says. My people, I am going to open your graves and raise you up from your
graves and bring you back to the soil of Israel. 13Then you will
know that I am the Lord, when I
open your graves and raise you up from your graves, O my people. 14I
will put my Spirit in you, and you will live. I will settle you on your own land, and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it,
declares the Lord.”
1. What was the condition of the bones and what in your life
do they represent?
2. What made these dead bones live? What does that mean
for you?
Epistle: Acts 2:1-21
When the day of Pentecost came, they were
all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the rushing of a
violent wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. 3They saw divided tongues that were like fire resting on
each one of them. 4They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other languages, since the Spirit was giving them the ability
to speak fluently.
5Now there were godly Jewish men from every
nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6When this sound was heard,
a crowd came together and was confused, because each one heard them speaking in
his own language. 7They were completely baffled and said to each
other, “Look, are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then
how is it that each of us hears them speaking in his own native language? 9Parthians,
Medes, and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, and of Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus
and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya
around Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes; 11Cretans
and Arabs—we hear them declaring in our own languages the wonderful works of
God.” 12They were all amazed and perplexed. They kept saying to one
another, “What does this mean?” 13But others mocked them and said,
“They are full of new wine.”
14Then Peter stood up with the
Eleven, raised his voice, and spoke loudly and clearly to them: “Men of Judea,
and all you residents of Jerusalem, understand this, and listen closely to my
words. 15These men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the
third hour of the day. 16On the contrary, this is what was spoken by
the prophet Joel:
17This is what God
says will happen in the last days:
I will pour out my
Spirit on all flesh.
Your sons and your
daughters will prophesy.
Your young men
will see visions.
Your old men will
dream dreams.
18Even on my
servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my
Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19I will show
wonders in the sky above,
and signs on the
earth below,
blood and fire and
a rising cloud of smoke.
20The sun will be
turned to darkness
and the moon to
blood
before the coming
of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21And this will
happen: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.”
3. What was so amazing about these men boldly speaking in
tongues?
4. What was Peter’s explanation of this event?
Gospel: John 14:25–27
25“I have told you these things while
staying with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of
everything I told you.
27“Peace I leave with you. My peace I
give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be
troubled, and do not let it be afraid.”
5. Whom was the Father going to send in connection with
the name of Jesus?
6. On what would the Holy Spirit focus, when he came on
Pentecost and afterward?
Answers:
1. The bones were very dry. There was no life at all in
them. The people of God felt hopeless. There seemed no chance to be released
from captivity to return to their homeland. Sin leaves us dry too (Ephesians
2:1‒4). It makes us unable to do anything to return to God and the blessings he
intended for us. It makes us feel trapped and hopeless.
2. The Holy Spirit does the impossible by bringing what
was dead to life, by God’s Word. He would restore Israel and bring it to its
feet to return home. He also creates a new heart and renews a steadfast spirit
within us (Psalm 51). What seems impossible becomes real. God promises!
3. The men speaking were common men, Galileans, who would
not have had schooling to speak so many other languages fluently. They were men
who had hidden, for fear of people connecting them with Christ. Now they were
boldly telling that message of the crucified and risen Savior in languages that
foreigners could clearly understand.
4. Peter said the fire, wind and tongues fulfilled God’s
prophecy to send his Spirit in a special way. This outpouring began at
Pentecost and continues wherever the gospel is preached. The purpose was to get
the news out so that all could call on the name of the Lord and be saved.
5. The Father and Son would send God the Holy Spirit.
6. The truths Jesus was sharing with the disciples seemed
so confusing at the time. They had so much to learn; so much that differed from
what they had imagined. The Holy Spirit would come, Jesus said, to “teach you
all things” and “remind you of everything I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit
was not coming to draw attention to him but to turn our eyes and hearts to
Jesus. Like a spotlight operator, he focuses the gospel light on Jesus so we
can clearly see what he has done, understand what he has taught and grow firm
in faith.
Putting your faith
into action
The pouring out of the Holy Spirit continues to take place
wherever the Word and sacraments are being used. Evidence of the pouring out of
the Holy Spirit is seen in people like us gathering for worship. Evidence of
the pouring out of the Holy Spirit is seen in every worship service as we sing
our hymns, give our offerings, confess our sins and our faith, and join in
prayers. Evidence of the Holy Spirit is also seen when we go back out into the
world and love our neighbors as ourselves. There is only one explanation for
these type of responses—the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon each one of us.
We reject and condemn the
error of the Enthusiasts. They imagine that
God without means, without the hearing of God’s Word, and also without the use
of the holy Sacraments, draws people to Himself and enlightens, and saves
them. (Enthusiasts expect the heavenly
illumination of the Spirit without the preaching of God’s Word.)
On the other hand, it is
correctly said that in conversion God—through the drawing of the Holy
Spirit—makes willing people out of stubborn and unwilling ones. And after conversion, in the daily exercise
of repentance, the regenerate will of a person is not idle, but cooperates in
all the works of the Holy Spirit, which He performs through us.
When the Holy Spirit has
worked and accomplished this, and a person’s will has been changed and renewed
by His divine power and working alone, then the new will of that person is an
instrument and organ of God the Holy Spirit.
So that person not only accepts grace, but he also cooperates with the
Holy Spirit in the works that follow.
There are only two causes for
a person’s conversion: (1) the Holy Spirit and (2) God’s Word, as the
instrument of the Holy Spirit, by which He works conversion. A person must hear this Word. However, it is not by that person’s powers,
but only through the grace and working of the Holy Spirit that he trusts the
Word and receives it. – Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article II, Free Will,
paragraphs 13, 17-19
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
And make our hearts your place of rest;
Come with your grace and heav'nly aid,
And fill the hearts which you have made.
To you, the Counselor, we cry,
To you, the gift of God most high;
The fount of life, the fire of love,
The soul's anointing from above.
Your light to ev'ry thought impart,
And shed your love in ev'ry heart;
The weakness of our mortal state
With deathless might invigorate.
Drive far away our wily foe,
And your abiding peace bestow;
If you are our protecting guide,
No evil can with us abide.
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And you, from both, as Three in One
That we your name may ever bless
And in our lives the truth confess.
Praise we the Father and the Son
And Holy Spirit, with them One,
And may the Son on us bestow
The gifts that from the Spirit flow!
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