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[MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO] [ Silence ] [MUSIC - "CAN'T NOBODY DO ME LIKE JESUS"]

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Can't nobody do me like Jesus. ♪ Can't nobody do me like the Lord ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ Because he's my friend ♪

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♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like the Lord ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ He's my friend ♪

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♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like the Lord ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ 'Cause he's my friend ♪

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♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like the Lord ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ 'Cause he's my friend ♪

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♪ You see he healed my body ♪ ♪ He told me to run on, heal my body ♪ ♪ Told me to run on, heal my body ♪ ♪ He told me to run on 'cause he's my friend ♪

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♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody do me like the Lord ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ 'Cause he's my friend ♪

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♪ You see he saved my soul ♪ ♪ Oh yes he did ♪ ♪ He saved my soul ♪ ♪ Oh yes he did ♪

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♪ He saved my soul ♪ ♪ Oh yes he did, 'cause he's my friend ♪ ♪ Sing my soul ♪ ♪ Till it roars ♪

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♪ Sing my body ♪ ♪ Till it roars ♪ ♪ Hear my body ♪ ♪ Oh, till it roars ♪

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♪ 'Cause he's my friend ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like the Lord ♪ ♪ Can't nobody do me like Jesus ♪

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♪ Because he's my friend ♪ (audience applauding) (Applause) Let's all say, "Amen." (Audience "Amens")

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Hear this word recorded in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, Chapter 37, "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord and sent me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones and caused me to pass by them round about and behold there were very many

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in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? and I answering O LORD thou knowest

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can these bones live. The prophet Ezekiel is ministering to exiles in Babylon. He is a prophet without a pulpit, a priest without an altar.

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And he seeks to strengthen and comfort the exiles, those who've been carried into captivity by the Babylonians. As we consider this question, can these bones live? It seems that God has carried Ezekiel in the spirit to a cemetery and given him a vision

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of dry bones. It's a lesson not only for that generation, but for all people everywhere. Can these bones live? So often,

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there's the experience of having dry bones, bones without any life, without any meaning. without any significance, dry bones. But as we consider this question,

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we must consider also the one who is asking the question. God asked this question of His prophet, Can these bones live? We cannot always be governed by appearance.

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Many times, appearance is deceiving. There was a beautiful tree that had existed for some time. And then it fell, and they began to examine why the tree fell. And they discovered that while it was very attractive from without, it was rottening within.

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Can these bones live? A civilization may be dying. We read that long before Rome fell that there were signs of decay, the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.

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Can these bones live? That question may be asked of a civilization, It may be asked of a nation. It may be asked of every individual, can these bones live? It was in the midst of a vision that he had, a vision of bones in the valley. And we might

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hear this question and be inclined to answer, "Let the bones rest." We often say that, "Peace be to his ashes," or, "Let him be, may he rest in peace."

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Let the bones rest. Let bygones be bygones. Don't worry about the dead bones of yesterday. Let the bones rest.

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So as we consider this question, we know that a lot of people have this attitude concerning the past. A person was planning an estate or engaged in estate planning, And then engaging in it, the question was raised,

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what about your life insurance? Do you have insurance to cover you when you die? You expect to be buried? No, I don't have any life insurance.

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What do you expect? Well, let the living worry about that. Well, some people have that attitude, but it's important that we address this

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in the most serious manner that we know how. As the nation traveled, Israel, traveled recklessly and progressively, so to speak, down, down, down, They came to the point where it was said of them

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by their own leaders, our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, we are separated from our parts.

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And it's in the midst of that atmosphere that condition that God speaks to the nation through His prophet Ezekiel, giving him this vision of a valley full of dry bones. And God Himself--think about it--asks this question of

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prophet, can these bones live? Can a people robbed of their history learn to live again? Can these bones live? Can a church that has been to the top of the mountain and has fallen down in Valley. Can such a church live again? Can these bones live? Can a student who has been

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on the probation role, change and become a member of the honor role. Can these bones live? Can a couple that has been through a nasty divorce, can they change and have a happy marriage can these bones live? Catherine Marshall, who was married to Peter Marshall, who was the shepherd of the United

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States Senate, after the death of Peter Marshall, she wrote a book, To Live Again. And she said that the most difficult thing was, after Peter Marshall died, was to learn to live again. Can these bones live?

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It's a long way from the top of the mountain to the valley. It's a long way from the valley of dry bones back up to the mountain again. And it's a long way from dry bones to living bodies, mighty army. It's a long journey.

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So God himself, I said, asked this question. Suppose we consider this question in the light of our present condition. As we look at ourselves, as we look at our nation, as we look at our world, the question, can these bones live?

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You cannot build a just social order on the dead bones of yesterday. The bones are dry. These bones have no sinews. These bones have no flesh.

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These bones have no skin. And these bones live. Bones constitute the inner framework of the body. They are necessary for a body to be in a good state of health, but we must have more than

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bones. I remember some time ago going to the doctor and he looked and after examination he said, "Well, Reverend, you have some signs here of arthritis." I said, "Well, doctor, what can I do about that?"

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He said, "There's nothing but," I said, "the bones." And when the weather changes, the bones let us know. Can these bones live? We're talking about that which really makes us what we are,

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framework of the body. and move going from place to place. There have been places where they'd say, "This place has the bones of Simon Peter."

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And you go another place and they say, "This place has the bones of Simon Peter." Simon Peter would have to have many, many bones to have all the bones that are attributed to him.

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But these are bones that are earmarked for the people of God. But something has happened over the course of time and these bones now are in a valley, dry.

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And the scripture here says that they are very dry, which suggests that they have been in the valley for a long, long time. Jesus talked about

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the scribes and Pharisees, they were persons who were like shining or brilliant tombs, sparkling in the sun. They looked good on the outside, but he said on the inside, they were like dead men's bones.

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But there again we have the question lifted. Can these bones live? This is a question asked of the prophet Ezekiel, but it is also addressed to exiles.

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can these bones live? Ezekiel says, "Oh Lord, God thou knowest, you know all things why ask me so to speak, can these bones live?"

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and so the answer Ezekiel gives really is, "I don't know, Lord." you have the answer and God does have the answer He has the answer for all of our perplexing questions.

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Can these bones live? The possibilities for our future are in God. The bones have no sinews. The bones have no flesh.

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The bones have no skin. The bones have no breath in them. It seems like a hopeless cause, but there is an answer, there is a solution, there is hope.

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God himself speaks the redeeming word. God himself changes us from death to life. He makes us to live meaningful lives. And he says to Ezekiel, "Prophesy to those bones.

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"Speak the word of God to those bones." And in the word of God, there is change, there is meaning, there is order. What happens in the beginning?

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In the beginning, God said, "Let there be light." He just spoke. And He needs to speak to our hearts. He needs to speak to our spirits

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in order for us to change and become the kind of people that God designed us to be. Can these bones live? Yes, but you must prophesy to those bones. And Ezekiel

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prophesies to the bones, and flesh comes upon them. These bones have sinews, they have flesh, they have skin, but they They have no breath, no spirit, no spirit. They need order first.

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They need order, proper arrangement. I was a student at Oberlin in seminary. We had a quartet. I sang bass and we went about in small churches,

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mostly Anglo churches in the area situated near the school and we gave programs. One of our songs was Dry Bones And we were invited to Schaffler College

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and all girls school in Cleveland, Ohio to give a program. We gave the program. One of the numbers we sang was Dry Bones.

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And oh, we went through it and it seemed like everything was in order. And they clapped and clapped and they enjoyed it so much they ask us later to sing it again.

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We resisted when they suggested, because we knew how hard it was, and we had just seemingly been lucky to come out with it the first time.

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(audience laughing) And we didn't want to try it again. But they were young ladies, and you know how insistent young ladies can be.

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And they just kept insisting and we kept resisting and finally we gave in and we sang "Dry Bones" the second time. And that second time those bones got all disconnected and we never got those bones together. And so we felt like sneaking out of the place the second time. a second time. But the bones have to be rightly connected. The reason our bodies get along

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well and move toward purposeful activities is we have the bones in good order. Whenever something happens to the bones, we know we have trouble. Whenever we have some form of paralysis and the bones aren't functioning as they should, functioning in the orderly manner, we get quite disturbed and rightly so. But God made us and designed us. He put us together

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bone to bone and it takes God for us to function as we should. Can these bones live? Well Lord, they have responded to your word, bones have come together. They have sinews upon them, they have flesh upon them,

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they have skin with all of them, but they have no breath. And God has to do that, not his equal, but God. God has to give to his people his spirit. Can these bones live?

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Yes, if they have the Spirit of God. What did God do when he made Adam? He made him out of a lump of clay, and then, then, then he breathed into him

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the breath of life, and he became a living soul. It's the Spirit of God. No matter how many names we add to the church roll, may have sinews and skin and all of those things,

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but without the Spirit of God, there is no life of God. But to live God's life, to have His Spirit, to have Him to guide us, to strengthen us, to comfort us, and to keep us, His Spirit.

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And it's a wonderful thing that God gives us his spirit to make us his people. And when God breathed into them his spirit, the bones got up and walked about.

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Bones walking about. That's resurrection. That's resurrection. That's the heart of our faith.

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that God who raised up Jesus Christ on the third day, that same God will lift us up when we fall. That same God will walk with us wherever we are. That same God will take us where He wants us to be.

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So as we come now to the invitation, we extend the privilege of the church. these bones live? There are those of us who can answer, "Oh yes Lord, I know, I know that I was without meaning, without significance, without hope, but you came to me, lifted me up and walked with me. These bones can live again." The door of

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the church is open. You may come by letter, by Christian experience, or on professional faith. There's room at the cross, plenty good room. There's room at the cross. Though millions have come, there's still room for one. There's room at the cross for you. It's an open door, he says, before us. Come. By letter, by

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Christian experience, all profession of faith, come. [ Music ] ♪ The rose upon which Jesus died ♪ ♪ Is the shadow in which we deny ♪

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♪ And its grace so free ♪ ♪ Is sufficient for me ♪ ♪ And deep is its power ♪ ♪ As wide as the sea ♪

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♪ Has room at the cross for you ♪ ♪ Has room at the cross for you ♪ ♪ Though miserable ♪ ♪ There's still room for one ♪

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♪ There's a room at the cross for you ♪ ♪ The pilgrims have helped him again ♪ ♪ And have turned from the sins they have sinned ♪ ♪ The Savior still waits to open the door ♪

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♪ Open the gates ♪ ♪ And fill the still ♪ ♪ It's for it's today ♪ ♪ There's room at the cross for you ♪

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♪ There's room at the cross for you ♪ ♪ Though millions have come ♪ ♪ There's still room for one ♪ ♪ Yes, there's room in the Bronx for you ♪

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[ Music ] [BLANK_AUDIO]