I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles now and turn with me to the book of Luke. Luke
chapter 7. Luke 7. Luke 7, and I'd like to begin
in verse 11. had healed a centurion, that's
an officer, a soldier, over a hundred men. And this centurion, it says
in the first part of chapter 7, verses 2 to 10, but what happened
was this centurion's servant was sick. And he was, scripture
says in chapter 7 verse 2, he was ready to die. And this centurion heard that the
Lord Jesus was close by. He sent the elders, the Jews,
and he besought him that he would heal his servant. And Centurion
told him, he said, I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy to even come into
your presence, nor am I worthy for you to come to me. He said,
if you'll speak the word. He said, my servant, behold.
And the Lord was pleased to heal that servant. Now, in verse 11, it says, it
came to pass the day after, the next day, that he went into a
city called Nain and many of his disciples went with him and
much people. There were some people that truly
knew him and some didn't. His disciples, his apostles,
and a lot of people. And verse 12 says, and when he
came nigh to the gate of the city He was coming up to the
gate that went into the city of Nain, and it says, Behold,
there was a dead man carried out, only son of his mother,
and she was a widow, and much people of the city was with her. Now here's the first thing that
I see in what we've read thus far. What sorrow, sin, has brought
into this world. A widow woman's son, her only
son, a dead man carried out in verse 12 the only son of his
mother. And she was a widow. Here was a widow woman that was
going to bury her boy. Carried him to the graveyard.
You know there was not one point so far in this event that was
just not filled with misery. This woman had lost her husband,
now she's lost her only boy, possibly the only source of help,
support, and comfort She had a bitter past, a bitter present,
and very possibly hopeless future. Without strength, she didn't
have anything. The misery that sin has brought
into this world. By one man, Romans 5.12 says,
by one man. Sin entered the world and death
by sin and so death passed upon all men for that, or in the margin
it says in whom, it talks about Adam's rebellion, in that all
have sinned, everybody. Now to understand the significance
of this passage, I want us to realize that this situation right
here sets forth the glorious mercy, grace, power of Almighty
God in the salvation again, just like we looked at in the first
message of His elect. Now that dead boy, that dead
son, only son of his mama, is a picture, is a type, and I'll
show you this, of God's sheep, God's elect, God's bride. They're the Lord's, but they're
born dead because of Adam's transgression. He's truly dead, just like those
dry bones that we looked at. This boy's dead. I know he's dead because Ephesians
2.1 talks about after the Lord regenerates, and you hath equipped
and made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. It's
going to take the Spirit of God, I know that, to convince a man
or woman of that, but if the Lord does, they'll realize I
was dead. Colossians 2 13 and you being
dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened
together with him Having forgiven you all trespasses In Adams transgression
when he died We died and here's this boy This boy is a is a picture
of what we are all of us are We come into this world Now listen
to this, verse 13, and when the Lord saw her, he had compassion
on her and said unto her, weep not. I was reading over this passage
this morning again, going over my notes, and that struck me. Again, I went back and read that
and I thought, now this boy is dead. The boy is dead. And it
says, when the Lord saw his mama, he saw her. He had compassion
on her and said to her, weep not. You know, the beauty of seeing
the Lord's compassion on one for the sake of another. He had
compassion on this woman. That's what he said. He saw her,
had compassion on her. You know, when David called,
he said, is there any of the house of Saul that I'd show mercy, compassion
to. Why? For Jonathan's sake. Jonathan was David's friend.
David and Jonathan loved each other. Jonathan asked David,
he said, when you're made the king, and Saul was Jonathan's
daddy, Saul was the king, and Jonathan knew that David was
going to be the king. He said, would you show mercy
to my family? Would you remember my family? David said, I will. And David
said, is there any of the house of Saul that I can show mercy
to for Jonathan's sake? The Lord looked at this woman
and had compassion on her. And he said to her, don't cry.
Don't cry. Compassion for the sake of another.
Listen to this, 1 John 2.12, I write unto you little children,
now listen to this, because your sins are forgiven you for his
sake. Not for our sake, for his sake.
Almighty God has shown mercy to his people for Christ's sake,
for his sake. And for that I'm thankful. all
the compassion of our Lord. He saw her, had compassion on
her. Here she was, without help, without
hope, the boy was dead. His mama couldn't help her boy
and the boy certainly couldn't help herself. And the Lord came
in verse 14, it says, and he came and touched the beer. In my margin here it says the
coffin, but what it probably was, the beer, was probably a
platform that the coffin was on. He came and he touched that
beer. That coffin was on. There our
Lord set forth mercy and compassion that he was going to set forth
his association, affiliation, with death. That boy was dead. The Lord reached out and touched
him. The Lord had compassion on his
mama and told her, he said, don't cry, weep not. And he touched
the beer that her boy was being carried on. Here our Lord touched with the
feeling of our infirmities, saw her, had compassion on her. And
that compassion, and remember now, he said he had compassion
on her, that compassion that he had on that mother, was totally
bound up in his glory, in his will. Show me your glory. He said, I'm going to have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. I'm going to have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
He said, don't cry. Then I want you to notice. the
almighty God and His power. He touched that beer and they
that bear Him stood still. And He said, now just think about
what we just heard concerning these dry bones. What do you
want me to do Lord? He said, you preach to those
dry bones. The Lord Jesus Christ is talking
to a dead man. This boy's dead. He's in a coffin. He's being carried out and he's
going to the graveyard. They're getting ready to put
him in the ground. And he said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. The scripture set forth that
the Lord came in verse 14. He came, He touched, and He said, I bet you when they stopped that
funeral procession and the Lord walked up, He didn't say anything
to the woman. He just saw her, had compassion
on her. He told her to not weep. Then he touched that beer. They stopped and he said to the
young man, I say to you, arise. I bet you could have heard a
pin drop. That man's dead. who is going to wipe away all
the tears, said to this woman, don't cry. And the Lord, who would not shrink
from the association of himself with the death and the grave
of his people, one made sin for us who knew no sin, said to a
dead corpse, Get up. I say to you, get up. And the scripture says in verse
15, and he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother,
he that was dead. Roll away the stone. Martha said,
Lord, by now, Lazarus, her brother, he'd been dead four days. He
began to stink by now. He said, did I not tell you that
you're going to see the glory of God? Lazarus, come forth. And he came out of the grave. at the Word of the Lord, dead,
formerly dead, he got up and he started talking. This is how God Almighty calls
His own out of the darkness of unbelief, the deadness of their
sins. This is how He's going to raise
His people from the dead in the last day. John 10.27 says, My sheep hear
My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. This is how God
calls His people out today. He says to dead, dry bones, O ye dry bones, hear the Word
of the Lord. The Spirit of God comes and takes
that word in power and gives a new heart and they hear. They
hear. And they believe. And they come. This boy got up. Got up. He heard the Word of God. John 5.28, marvel not at this
for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves
shall hear his voice. Now I'm going to just tell you
this, this is what God has to say and this is what we know
is so. We're going to hear the dead. And shall come forth, they that
have done good unto the resurrection of life, they that have done
evil unto the resurrection of damnation. This young man got
up and he began to speak. It's not recorded what he said. But you can rest assured, this
young man gave praise and honor and glory to the one that made
him whole. And let me tell you the first
thing this boy saw, first thing he recognized, I'll bet you, I'm in a coffin. I'm in a coffin. And these people are carrying
me. Here's my mama. Look at all these
people around here. I was on my way to the graveyard. deliver them from going down
to the pit. I found a ransom. And he delivered that young man
to his mama. Great fear fell upon him. This is how God saves sinners.
By the grace of God, for almost 60 years, the Lord has allowed
the gospel to be preached here. I thank the Lord for that, and
I pray once again today. Lord, bless these words to our
heart. Holy Spirit, come in power. Lord, save the dead. Lord, speak life. If the Lord has saved you, given
you a realization that you're a helpless sinner, you can't
save yourself. that life is only in Christ and
giving your heart to trust him, then confess him in baptism for
his sake and for our eternal good.