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A Cloud Of Witnesses
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We're looking at Ezekiel chapter 37, a passage about the prophet Ezekiel and a vision God gave him. The text describes how God's Spirit brought Ezekiel into a valley full of bones—very dry bones—and asked him a question that changed everything.
The hand of the Lord was on me and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and he set me in the middle of a valley and it was full of bones... He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I said, "Sovereign Lord, you alone know."
We all have moments where we say, "I will never..." and then life proves us wrong. I remember saying I'd never be a pastor, never leave Texas, never be an overprotective dad. But life has a way of surprising us with those small moments.
But we also face bigger, unexpected moments that knock us completely off our feet. Twelve years ago, my wife came home with a gift telling me we were pregnant with our first child. We were thrilled—walking around with a pep in our step, life felt vibrant and full of color. Then at the ultrasound, the doctor's demeanor changed. "I'm really sorry to tell you this, but you've had a miscarriage."
I don't remember what happened next. It was like my mind blacked it out. The only moment I remember is getting in the car and feeling like everything had turned from vibrant color to black and white. The music was gone. There was only the sound of my wife crying beside me.
Every person in this room will experience a moment like that—something unexpected that hits you and knocks you over. People say, "I know layoffs happen, but not to me. I've been here a long time." Others say, "I know marriages end in divorce, but not us. We love each other." Still others say, "I know kids walk away from church, but I do a good job. I love my kids."
But when those unexpected moments come, they knock you down. You wonder: How am I supposed to get back up? How am I supposed to set an example? How am I supposed to lead and listen to God's word? When you hear about people like Peter, Paul, David, and Samson doing amazing things, it's hard to even get out of bed when you never thought your situation would happen to you.
The Bible is full of real people with real struggles and real questions. While the particulars of our lives may be different from theirs, we can learn from their stories.
Ezekiel lived during the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC, during a time of unprecedented national collapse. The prophet Jeremiah had prophesied for 20 years that judgment was coming, but nobody listened. Then Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians attacked, taking the nobility and royals into exile.
But there were still people in Jerusalem, and they continued to rebel. Eight years later, Nebuchadnezzar returned and took the leaders, workers, and craftsmen—leaving only the poorest in Jerusalem. Ezekiel was taken in this wave.
The people still had a little hope. The city was still standing. The temple was still there. Maybe God would show up like He had for their ancestors. Maybe He'd do a miracle. But eleven years later, they rebelled again. This time, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city, destroyed the temple, and left no doubt about anything.
When word reached the exiles about what had happened, they were distraught. They had lost hope. They had lost belief. "We're the people of God. How could this happen to us?" They had been knocked over.
But God spoke through Ezekiel: "I have plans to restore you. I have plans to put you back into your homeland. I have plans to get your family back together because I am a good God." One way He shared this promise was through the vision in Ezekiel 37.
The Spirit of God took Ezekiel into a valley. You would expect to find streams of water, lush vegetation, and animals. Instead, he found death—bones scattered everywhere. Hundreds, maybe thousands. The Spirit led Ezekiel back and forth among all these bones.
Bones are significant. They represent what used to be alive. That bone connected to a skeleton. That skeleton had flesh and skin. That flesh and skin was a person—someone with dreams, hopes, friends, and aspirations. But all of that was gone. Only dry, dead bones remained.
Many of us have areas in our lives that feel like a valley of dry bones. Areas we never thought we'd be in. Areas we don't like to talk about. Areas we don't even like to think about.
"Joseph, I never thought my kids would grow up and stop talking to me. I never thought I'd make a bad financial decision and not be able to get out of it. I never thought this situation would happen and I'd be left without hope."
It doesn't fit our Western church mindset—that if you've got it all together, if your life is beautiful, if you do all the right things, nothing bad ever happens. But it does.
Then the Spirit of God spoke to Ezekiel with a question: "Son of man, can these bones live?"
God asked this question not because He needed the answer—He's God. He already knows. If He wants to bring life, He can bring life. He asked because He was curious: Does Ezekiel believe that I can bring life back to these bones?
In the same way, maybe God is speaking to some of us this morning. You're looking at areas of your life that feel like dry bones, and He's asking: "Do you believe that I can restore your marriage? Do you believe that if I gave you one job, I can give you a second? Do you believe that I can bring your children back to faith? Do you believe that I can take this valley of dry bones and bring it back to life?"
Ezekiel gave an honest answer: "Oh sovereign Lord, you alone know."
I love that honesty. He's saying, "I don't know how it's possible. I don't know how you could bring bones back to life. I don't know how you can take all this chaos and disarray. I have no idea how you could do it. But you are sovereign. I believe that you are God. And if you want to do something, you can do it."
Then God told Ezekiel: "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord."
Ezekiel, full of faith, decided to do it. He didn't know how it would work, but he was willing to say what God told him to say.
As I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
In a valley full of disarray, disorder, and chaos, Ezekiel heard a click, click, click, click. Bones began flying around. Foot bones found leg bones. Leg bones found hip bones. Hip bones connected to backbones. All this chaos began coming into order.
When the word of God is spoken, it brings the chaos and disarray of our lives back into order. When we submit ourselves under His word and His truth—only His word and His truth—He begins to take the chaos of our life and piece it together the way it was intended to be.
This is what happened in Genesis 1. The earth was formless and void, in disarray and chaos. Then the word of God came. Light appeared. The sky began to separate. Land and water separated. Animals, vegetation, and humans were created. Whenever God's word comes, the chaos of our lives is put back in order.
But here's the truth: Many of us want the order of God and the peace of God, but we're unwilling to submit to the authority of God's word.
We want the order and peace of God in our finances, but we won't trust God with the tithe. We want the order and peace of God in our relationships, but we're still holding onto unforgiveness from something that happened ten years ago. We want the order and peace of God in our marriages, but instead of being quick to listen and slow to speak, we're constantly talking over each other because our voice has to be heard.
We want the order and peace of God in our relationship with Him, and we wonder why it seems like He's gone, like He's not there. But His word says He will have no other gods before Him.
"Well, He understands that work is really busy right now. One day I'm going to get that promotion, and when I get the promotion, then I'll have time for God." That's not submission. God is not the Lord of your life.
"He understands that I'm grinding, I'm working hard, I'm trying to get a better life for my family. One day, when I get a certain level of money in my bank account, then I'll have some time for Him." He's not the Lord of your life.
You cannot have the order and the peace of God unless you are willing to submit under the authority of His word and allow it to permeate throughout all of your life, beginning to bring order.
I wish I could tell you that if you said, "I'm going to do that right now," everything would be different immediately. But that's not what happened with the bones.
As Ezekiel prophesied, he heard a rattle—click, click, click, click. If you begin to submit your life under the authority of God's word, it won't happen overnight. But if you consistently continue to live your life according to what He has called you to, according to what He says we should do, according to how He says we should live, then over time your life will come into order under the way He has called us to live.
When Ezekiel spoke God's word to the bones, something remarkable happened that had never happened before. He had talked to many people, but he had never talked to bones and watched them come to life. That's the power of speaking God's word.
When Ezekiel spoke God's word to the bones, something remarkable happened that had never happened before. He had talked to many people, but he had never talked to bones and watched them come to life. That's the power of speaking God's word.
Ezekiel didn't rely on eloquent communication, impressive delivery, or special techniques. He simply spoke the word of the Lord in faith. He didn't say, "Here's my feelings. Here's my opinion about what God said. Here's a survey I took about what God says. Here's a self-help book. Here's a really great podcast." He came to these bones and said, "I am going to speak the word of God and the word of God only because I believe that it is powerful, that on its own it doesn't need anything from me."
When the word of God is spoken, it splits through time and space. It defies the laws of physics. It is able to do something that no one else understands. Consider Jesus in the boat during a storm. He speaks, "Peace be still," and the wind and the waves have to obey because the word of God is an unstoppable force.
A Roman centurion came to Jesus and said, "If you would just speak the word, my servant would be healed. You don't have to be in the room. You don't have to see him. You don't have to touch him. If you just speak the word, I believe that your words are so powerful that my servant would be healed." And so Jesus did, and his servant was healed.
Jesus walked up to the tomb of Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, and said, "Lazarus, come out." A dead man came back to life and walked out of that tomb because the word of God was spoken.
You may think that you need some more feelings from somebody. You may think that you need somebody to just come alongside and say it's going to be okay. What you really need is someone who's willing to speak the word of God into your life.
I hope you have friends that when life hits you, they don't just come say it's going to be okay. I hope they come and they speak God's truth, the unstoppable force. When the enemy is coming against your marriage, I hope you've got friends who say, "The Bible says that what God has formed together, no man will separate. So we're going to keep praying. We're going to keep believing because there's something powerful about his promises."
When the enemy comes after your kids, I hope you've got friends who will come beside you and say, "The Bible says that if you train up your child in the ways of the Lord, when they are old, they will not depart. So we're going to keep showing up to church. We're going to keep praying. We're going to keep talking about the things of God because we believe that his promises are true."
When fear and anxiety come into your life, I hope you've got someone who's willing to come beside you and say, "You don't have to fear because the Bible says that God is with us and he will uphold us with his right hand."
When financial stress hits your life, I hope you don't have people who just come say, "Keep working harder. Keep grinding." I hope you've got people who come to you and say, "The Bible says that he will supply all of our needs according to his riches. You may not get the boat. You may not get the car. But he will provide because his promises are true."
His word is an unstoppable force that cannot be stopped by a demon. It cannot be stopped by anybody on earth. It cannot be stopped by your doubt. It cannot be stopped by anything because it is the word of God.
There is a boldness that comes on people when we understand that his word brings order to our life and that it is an unstoppable force. There's a confidence that I don't go to God and pray for things that he hasn't talked about. But I can come to God and say, "You said it in your word, so I will boldly ask for it."
I think of my children who are bold when they ask their dad for things. They know they can ask me for anything. They believe that apparently there's nothing I can't do and apparently I have all the money in the world.
But I'm also mature and old enough to understand that these moments won't last forever. There will be moments in their life where I won't be there. There's going to be moments at school, moments with their friends, moments at work, moments when they leave my home that I am not there to guide them. And unless the Lord comes back before, there's going to come a moment where I'm going to be in heaven and they're still going to be here on earth.
I don't just want to leave them with a little bit of money or some fun memories. I want to leave them with something that endures. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 40: "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever."
We don't do Bible presentation because it looks good. We do it to remind ourselves that there is one thing that endures forever and it is the word of God. The enemy has tried to snuff it out. They've tried to make it illegal. They've tried to keep it away from us. Some atheists came around 20 years ago and said it is outdated, it is dumb, it makes no sense. But then in 2025, America set an all-time record high of Bible sales because the word of God endures forever.
I have a fear that if we're not careful, we will raise up kids who can throw a baseball really well, but they won't know the word of God. I'm afraid that if we're not careful, we will raise children who know the way that we vote, who know our political leanings, but they do not know the word of God. We'll raise up kids that are really popular, who have fun, who have tons of friends, everybody loves them, they're great on social media, but they will not know the word of God.
Those of us who are believers who submit under its authority—if we truly believe that it is an unstoppable force—the greatest gift you can give your children and your grandchildren is the word of God and help them learn it and apply it to their life because it'll exist long after you and I are gone.
Ezekiel spoke to these bones and they began to come together. But there was a problem. God said that these bones would live. All that existed were bones that had come back together. We're told in Ezekiel 37:8: "I looked and tendons and the flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them."
Apparently, it's possible to have order, but not to have life. You can do everything this thing says and still not have life. You can go to church. You can know the scriptures. You can be in a small group. You can even serve on a team. And it's possible to not have life.
This was the Pharisees and Sadducees. They knew the word. They had to memorize it. They followed every rule, every regulation to the letter. But they didn't have life.
God told Ezekiel, "I want you to prophesy again. And this time, I want you to prophesy to the breath. Ask the breath to come and breathe life into these bones."
That word "breath" in Hebrew is ruach. It's translated as wind, breath, and spirit. Another way to translate this is: God tells Ezekiel, "Speak to the spirit of God and ask the spirit to come and breathe life into these bones."
But the moment I say spirit of God, everybody starts to feel a little uneasy. Some of you think, "Just listen, I avoid that as much as I can. I've seen some weird things. Some people have made it awkward. I just don't get it. I'm good with God the Father. I'm good with Jesus, but I don't get the spirit guy. I'll just avoid him at all costs."
But if you submit to the authority of God, you cannot get past it in his word. The spirit was there in Genesis 1 before life was formed—hovering over the face of the deep was the spirit of God. When King David was anointed by Samuel, the spirit of God came upon him. When Jesus was baptized, the spirit of God was there. When the early church was born, the spirit of God showed up and they began to proclaim boldly the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you turn to the very last page in your book, the last section of the last chapter in Revelation, you will find the spirit of God calling out to anyone who is thirsty to come and drink.
Some say, "Well, I just don't understand it. Maybe if I understood it better, maybe if I had a better explanation, then I would be more open to the spirit in my life." You should seek understanding. You should study. You should have sound doctrine when it comes to the Holy Spirit. But not having a full understanding of the spirit is not an excuse to not experience the spirit in your life.
The early church did something amazing. All they knew was that the spirit of God was going to come on them. And they went and changed the world. We have more information. We have more understanding. We have better theology than they ever did. But yet God used them to change the world.
One writer said, "If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference." Let that sink in. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95% of what they did would stop and everybody would know the difference. This is the tragedy and woe of the hour that we neglect the most important one who could possibly be in our midst, the Holy Spirit of God.
When we talk about needing some life, some juice into things in the Western American church, we just talk about having a better sermon. "If they preach better sermons, we'd have some life. If the music was a little more powerful, then we'd have some life. Let's build an amazing building that everybody wants to come see, then we'll have life. Maybe we'll do a cutting edge ministry that nobody's ever heard of. We'll be on the front lines. Then we'll have life in our church."
But the word of God says to call on the spirit of God and it will breathe life into our bodies. You can have order but you cannot have life apart from the spirit. Period. You will never experience life apart from the spirit. You will just have order if you only live under the word.
You can have order but you cannot have life apart from the spirit.
I want to be very honest with you. I want order in my marriage but if the spirit of God is not breathing on my marriage, I am missing out. I worked hard on this sermon. I put it in order. I tried to make sure that it would be understandable. But if I am up here just speaking without the spirit of God breathing on these words, I'm just up here like a clanging gong just speaking a bunch of things that make no sense.
I got to tell you, I want a church with great staff and well-run ministries. But if the spirit of God is not breathing on everything Northview Church does, we are missing out on what God has called us to do. We need the spirit of God to breathe on everything that we do.
When he calls on the spirit of God and it breathes life into these bodies, notice how these bodies are described. In verse 10 it says these bodies now are a vast army. God has taken chaos and he's put it into order and he's breathed life into them. But it doesn't say that now it's a vast group of spectators. Doesn't say it's a bunch of bystanders. Doesn't say it's a group of grateful participants. It describes them as an army.
An army has purpose. An army has calling. An army is supposed to get up and do something. When the spirit comes on us, we're not just called to be comfortable. We're called to go out and do something.
Yes, Jesus describes the spirit as a comforter. I like the comforting spirit. I like that it gives me hope, that it gives me peace, that it gives me joy. But Jesus also described the spirit in Acts 1:8 as the one that whenever it comes upon us, we will receive power. And when we receive that power, we are called to go and preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. That sounds to me like we're more of an army than a group of bystanders.
What we do so many times is we say it like this: The spirit comforts, but also the spirit commissions. The spirit of God when it comes on you, it comes on you so that you can go out and do his work.
Many of us sit here and say, "Ah, Joseph, that's where I draw the line. I'm not smart enough. I'm not good enough. I've made too many mistakes. There's no way God will ever use somebody like me."
I be honest, I feel the same way. I'm constantly asking God, "Why would you ever use somebody like me?" I grew up with a speech impediment. I took speech therapy for years. Eventually it was no longer a problem, but the damage had been done. My friends made fun of me. My family to this day still makes fun of the way that I used to say things. I never wanted to get in front of people and speak. That was the last thing on my list.
But I began to give my life to Jesus and he called me into ministry at 16 years old and I started serving anywhere the church would let me. I just said yes and yes and yes. And then they asked me, would you preach a sermon on Sunday night? And I said yes. I was so excited. I went and started telling all of my friends, my teachers, my family, anyone who would listen, I'm preaching and you should come and listen. It's going to be amazing.
But I forgot. I hate talking in front of people. I was just so excited. There was just so much like, oh, this is going to be great. I should go and do this. And I forgot that this was the great terror of my life. What if I say something wrong? What if I embarrass myself? What if I just make an absolutely horrible mistake? How would I ever come back from that?
Because my friends said yes. My teacher said yes. This fear and this anxiety began to sit on me. At 16 years old, I remember sitting in this room and I was so terrified. I was shaking. How in the world was I ever going to get up and do this?
I don't recommend this because I don't really think that this is the way that God typically works. But at 16 years old, I didn't know what else to do. So I closed my eyes and I grabbed the Bible and I opened it like this and I grabbed my finger and I put it down on a verse and said, "God, please speak something because I don't know how I'm going to do this."
Honest to God, these are the verses that my finger landed on:
So it was with me, brothers and sisters, when I came to you. I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the spirit's power so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom but on God's power.
I got to tell you at 16 years old: if it's good enough for Paul, it's good enough for me. I don't have to be eloquent.
I don't have to be eloquent. I don't have to be wise and persuasive. I just have to get up and allow the spirit to be demonstrated. At 16 years old, I felt both comfort and a commissioning from God—He was saying, "I am with you. Get up there and do what I've called you to do."
That Sunday night, I preached what was honestly the worst sermon you can imagine on David. It lasted 25 minutes. I was so embarrassed that when I gave the altar call, I put my head down and closed my eyes because I was certain God wouldn't use it.
But when I looked up, the altar was full of my friends and family. One friend who didn't believe in Jesus was standing there with his hands raised and tears running down his face. Another friend began sharing things going on in his life that I didn't even know about. I was leading them to Jesus. I walked away asking, "How could God use that horrible 16-year-old sermon?"
Because He doesn't need eloquence and wise and persuasive words. He just wants someone willing to say, "I am here as a demonstration of his power."
I still tremble whenever I get ready to speak. I still worry that I'll say something that makes no sense and you'll think I'm a loser. But when you walk away this morning, I hope you're not talking about Joseph. I hope you're talking about the spirit of God and how when the spirit of God is demonstrated, it commissions us to go out and do His work—because we are an army.
You don't have to have it all figured out. You don't have to have all the answers. You just have to be willing to say yes when the spirit calls you.
My favorite part of Ezekiel's vision is what happens after the bones come together and flesh and skin cover them, and the spirit of God breathes life into these bodies. They become a vast army. But what is the first thing that army did? They came to life and they stood up on their feet.
This week I spent a lot of time praying, "Spirit of God, just breathe on this message." Over and over, I felt God telling me: "You need to tell people that it's time they stand back up."
You've been knocked down by unexpected moments that are hard, heavy, and difficult. But God is coming to you and saying, "It's time to stand back up."
You might be thinking: "Joseph, you don't understand how difficult it's been. You don't understand how much time has gone by. There's no way I can stand back up. There's no way I can do this."
We stand the same way those bones did: we stand on the promises of God's word and in the power of God's spirit. When I stand, I am standing believing that His word is true, that His promises are true, that it is an unstoppable force. As long as the word of God is proclaimed in my life, I can stand.
And as I'm standing, I believe that the spirit of God is with me. He has commissioned me. I'm not meant to live this life as a bystander. I'm not meant to just watch life go by. I have been called with a purpose, and I'm going to stand on the promises of God and in the power of His spirit.
Maybe you need to stand back up.
To the women: I felt like God was saying there are some of you who are so tired. You have been trying so hard to keep it all together. You run a great home, you have the job, you take care of your family, you're involved at your kids' school, you're involved at church. You're doing all the things, and you are absolutely exhausted.
Your family does not need you to be perfect. They need you to stand on the promises of God and say, "His grace is sufficient for me. I have been crafted as a masterpiece in His army. I have a purpose and I have a plan. No matter what comes against me, I'm going to stand here firm believing that God is with me."
To the men: Some of you have abdicated your role as a spiritual leader in your home for too long. You say, "Nobody ever showed me how to do it. What if I say the wrong thing? What if I pray a prayer that's weird? What if my kids laugh at me?"
What if instead of trying to be eloquent and wise and persuasive, you just stand on the promises of God and say, "I am here as a demonstration of his power. My kids, my wife, my co-workers, my family—when they look at me, they will see a man of God who is standing on his promises and on his spirit, because I don't have the strength in myself, but I can stand."
To the teenagers: You live in a world where life is changing all the time. There's something new every day, every week, every month. There are all these different ideologies out there. Maybe instead of being swayed by the winds of culture, what your friends need is a teenager willing to stand in the promises of God's word and say, "I know that I have been called. I know that I have a purpose. I know that God wants to use me, and I know that I've been commissioned by His spirit. So I'm going to stand no matter what culture says, no matter what people come against me, no matter what somebody posts about me on social media. I believe that His word is true and His spirit is with me. And I will stand."
Northview Church, let's be real. In a season that kind of feels like a valley of dry bones—we're in a senior pastor change. There's disorder. There's chaos. What are we going to do? Where are we going to go? What's next for us?
But can I be honest with you? Our community still needs the hope of Jesus. Our community is still hurting and in need. They need a church willing to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and stand on His promises: the gates of hell could not prevail against His church. No demon is going to come against my church. No person is going to come against my church.
I am going to stand on His promises because we have been called. We have been spirit-filled. The breath of God is breathing on this church, and the community needs to see people standing, believing that God is with us even in a season of chaos and disorder.
At the beginning, I shared with you that my wife and I had that miscarriage. I would love to tell you that at 24 years old, I understood everything I've been teaching this morning. But I didn't.
I was mad. "God, how could you let this happen? I'm in ministry. I moved to a new state. I'm doing everything you've asked me to do." I stopped praying. I was a student pastor, but I was just phoning it in. Every day, my wife needed her husband to stand up, and I couldn't do it.
One day a few weeks later, we were sitting in church. I was exhausted, genuinely asking God: "Am I even fit for this? How can I lead these students if I can't even lead myself?" Everyone was standing in worship, singing. My wife and I were just sitting there in tears—she was angry, I was crying out to God.
I'll never forget: I felt like God spoke to my heart and said, "Look up."
My wife wasn't sitting anymore. My wife was standing with her hands raised and tears running down her face. But she wasn't standing on the strength of her husband—I didn't have any to give her. She wasn't standing because of a podcast or a self-help book. She wasn't standing because some friend had told her it'd be okay.
She was standing because she believed the promises of God are true. That God's plans for her were to prosper and not to harm her. That the spirit was with her and this was not the end of her story.
You know what I did? I stood—not because I was strong, not because I had it all figured out, but because the woman in my life was willing to stand when I couldn't.
The world does not need better sermons. They don't need more creative music. They don't need a fancy building. They don't need a brand new ministry.
You know what the world needs? An army of men and women willing to stand in the middle of everything that life throws at them. An army that says, "I believe that His promises are true, and I believe that His spirit is with me, and come what may, I will stand for the kingdom of God and let Him lead my life—because it's not about me. I'm just here to demonstrate the power of the spirit."
