All right, if you'd like to follow
along, I'm gonna be in Luke chapter eight. Luke chapter eight. At the end of the chapter, I
wanna begin reading in verse 49. While he yet spake, there cometh
one from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying to him, thy daughter
is dead, trouble not the master. But when Jesus heard it, he answered
him in saying, fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole. And when he came into the house,
he suffered no man to go in save Peter, James, and John, and the
father and mother of the maiden. And all wept and bewailed, but
he said, weep not, she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they
laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put
them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying,
Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and
she arose straightway, and he commanded to give her meat. And
her parents were astonished, but he charged them that they
should tell no man what was done. Before I get started, I do have
a quote here from Charles Spurgeon that I really like. God is so
boundlessly pleased with Jesus that in him he is altogether
well pleased with us. That's pretty good. That's pretty
good. It's also very true. Because listen, every good and
perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights. That's
true, that's scripture. But here's the thing, every good
and perfect gift is in his son, Jesus Christ. His well-beloved
son. Understand, here's the glory
of our salvation, the glory of the salvation of God. We got
the grace and the mercy. because Jesus Christ took the
justice. I've said it before, I'll say
it again. I don't have any problems with repeating myself. Salvation
is free to you, and it's free to me, and it's free to all of
God's people, but it wasn't free. Jesus Christ had to pay the price,
and I like that, I do. Anyhow. Luke chapter eight, this is actually
the second part of this account. It began actually in verse 41. And behold, there was a man named
Jarius, and he was a ruler of the synagogue, and he fell down
at Jesus' feet and besought him that he would come into his house.
For he had one only daughter, about 12 years of age, and she
lay a dying. But as he went, the people thronged
him. And then we have the account of the woman with the issue of
blood. And then we come back to this, and they come tell him,
don't bother the master, she's dead. Well, they were wrong. And listen to this. Unbelievers
are always wrong. They don't understand the scripture,
and they don't understand the power of God. That's where the
problem is. That's where the problem lies.
But here it is, they all wept, this is verse 52, they all wept
and bewailed her, and he said, weep not, she is not dead, but
sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn,
knowing she was dead. And he put them all out, and
took her by the hand, and saying, and called, made arise. Listen, the world will weep and
wail the physically dead. But there's no weeping for the
spiritual death. You know why? They don't know
it. The world doesn't understand
it. The world has no comprehension, the world has no comprehension
of spiritual life. So they can't understand spiritual
death. They go to church every Sunday and they think they're
living. Let me tell you this. Going to
church has never saved anybody. Denomination has never saved
anybody. Correct doctrine has never saved
anybody. But I know the one who has the
words of eternal life. And they're in his lips, not
mine. They come from his lips. The
unbelieving world can only know the physical. They have a total
lack of spiritual discernment. Now, I'm not gonna keep you long.
My title, Paul, for this one is Arise. Because that's a real
good word. I wanna get to it real fast,
too, but I got some other things I gotta say first. But then,
Jesus did speak to them and said, weep not. Weep not. She's not
dead. She sleeps. Now here's the world's
reaction to the words of Jesus Christ. What did he say? They
left him to scorn. They left in derision to the
God manifest in the flesh. They knew she was dead. You couldn't
tell them any different. And that's true. He did tell
them different. They didn't believe him, though.
They didn't believe him. They laughed him to scorn, because
why? Unbelievers have no respect for
the word of God. Whether it's coming from Jesus'
lips, or whether it's in this book right here. They may offer
a lip service to this word, but when you read it to them, they'll
say, well, that's not what it means. Especially certain scriptures. You understand? All things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are called
according to his purpose. Well, it doesn't mean that. It
means all good things. I, a permanent Baptist preacher,
say that. Well, of course, all good things work together for
good. It's kind of an idiot statement. No, it says all things. Oh my,
and you said that God chose his people from before the foundation
of the world. That's not fair. You understand, the unbeliever
always gets the things of God incorrectly. Oh my, they laughed him to scorn.
They will not listen to the word of the son of God as he stood
right before him speaking. They didn't know him. and they
didn't know the truth. Oh, they have, what is it Paul
said? There is no fear of God before their eyes. Oh my. They don't have ears that
hear. Understand, God knows. Got it. Ezekiel 37 and verse three says
this. And he said unto me, son of man,
can these bones live? This is God speaking to Ezekiel. And I answered, O Lord God, thou
knowest. Thou knowest. Ezekiel knew that
the Lord knoweth them that are his. Oh. And here's the other thing Ezekiel
knew. Without the Lord, there is no life. There is no life. Oh, and these men and women,
knowing she was dead, laughed Jesus Christ to scorn. It was
a harsh, deriding laughter. That's what it was. They were
trying to call Jesus Christ an idiot. I'm gonna tell you this. The
ones that were doing the laughing were the ones that were dry bones.
There wasn't any life in them. And then he says this, and I
love this statement. I do love this statement. I know
a lot of people may not get this. And he put them all out. Out. You understand? This statement
thrills my soul. And these actions of the Lord
Jesus Christ make me happy. Because anything he does, this
is the thing, anything he does is right. It's not that Jesus Christ always
did the right thing, it's that if Jesus Christ did it, it was
right. And he put him out. They laughed him to scorn and
he put him out. Oh, I can tell you this. And
this is one reason why it thrills my soul. When Jesus Christ works
upon the souls of his chosen people, put it that way, the
souls of men and women, he doesn't need anybody's help. He doesn't
need anybody's help, oh my. When Jesus Christ works upon
the soul, here's the other thing, he doesn't have an audience.
It's between him and the person he's speaking to. That's exactly
it. Oh my, because I'm gonna tell
you something, his voice to the soul is personal, personal. And here's another thing, what
the world quite don't understand, it's private. You understand? When Christ speaks to his children,
he's speaking to them individually. I call my sheep, what? By name. And they, each and every one
whom he calls by name, they hear and they follow. Oh, I like that,
I do. And I'm gonna tell you this,
if by chance, unbelievers may see the results of the soul work
of Jesus Christ, they won't get it anyway. They won't get it. He put them out. He put them
out. The parents didn't put them out,
he put them out. You understand, wherever the
Lord Jesus Christ is, he is in control. He's in control, and
he says, Put it in, he says who's in and who's out. The religious world doesn't like
that. The religious world doesn't like
that. They want to have some say whether or not they're in.
Well, they ain't got no say. No one has any say except for
the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ, oh my. You understand, this is the thing.
The Lord works and even believers don't know it at the time. How
can unbelievers know it? Oh, oh my. And the Lord Jesus
Christ put him out. And you know what? Let me tell
you something, folks. When he puts you out, you're
out. You're out, you're out. Oh my. What was going on? Well, Jesus
Christ at this present moment was about his father's business. He was performing the will of
the father when he put these people out. And when he did what he did inside,
he was about his father's business. Oh, I like that. Because his
father's business is not to the world. It's to his people. It's to his people. So, after
he put him out, Jesus took her by the hand and called, saying,
made arise. I just thought about this. He
took her by the hand. He touched her. Ah, that's something
glorious to think about. The touch of the master's hand. The touch of the master's hand.
Oh, the touch of the divine. Oh. And as Paul said it before
and all that, and others have too, he can lay hold on us and
not be spoiled. Not be. and he can lay hold of his people. Oh my, and bring us to God, his
father. Oh, I like that. And he spoke
to her personally and privately. He said to this maid, this maid,
this one particular little girl, 12 years old it says, made arise. Oh, I like that. Understand,
he'd already put out those that he didn't want there. They're
gone, they're gone. They will not hear and Jesus
is not speaking to them. Not now, he might speak to one
of them later. I thought about that. Because
he calls his sheep at his will but he calls in his good time. Understand, Saul of Tarsus was
right there consenting unto the death of Stephen. Heard that
message that Stephen preached and then saw Stephen stoned to
death and he was consenting unto his death. But Christ didn't call him until
he was on the road going to Damascus later. Oh, the thing is this. He speaks personally and he speaks
privately to the person he is speaking to. Now you're not supposed
to end the sentence with a preposition, but I don't care. To the person
to whom he is speaking. He's speaking to one person at
a time. Oh, I like that. I like that.
And he calls us by name. Now we're not given this little
girl's name. And I understand it, because
it doesn't matter her name. He knew who he was speaking to. He had her by the hand. She knew
he was speaking to her. Oh, I like that, I like that. You may not know what's going
on when God lays a hold on you, when Jesus Christ actually first
speaks to you, but you're gonna know you were spoken to. You're
gonna know something's going on. Oh, I'm gonna tell you something. I like that. He speaks personally
and he speaks privately and he calls us by name. When those that are dead hear
the voice of the Son of God, they that hear shall live. And that's what it means. That's
what I see here. This is a true account, this
was a sick girl. And those people did think she
was dead. Christ said she wasn't, she was
sleeping. But he took her by the hand and he said, maid, arise. Oh, I like that, arise. Hear
the word of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Arise. Arise. Oh. This word literally means arise
from sleep, arise from disease, and arise from death, arise from
death. That's what the word means. Ephesians
5 and 14 says this. Wherefore he saith, awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead. and Christ shall give
thee light. Awake. Arise. Arise. And I'm gonna tell you
something. When he says arise to his people,
they arise. They arise. It's not of the people
he says it to or the person he says it to. It's of the word
of his mighty power. Arise. Oh, I like that. Even the dead arise when he calls
them. Hey, now is that physically dead
or spiritually dead? Yes. Yes. We deal more with the spiritual
resurrection, but that's what, that's the thing. Verse 55, and
her spirit came again. And she arose straightway. And he commanded to give her
meat. What happens when the Lord Jesus
Christ says arise? She arose straightway. Straightway. You understand? It doesn't take
anything from you, it takes the word from Jesus Christ. If he says arise, you're gonna
arise. Oh my, every time he says arise,
someone arises. Oh, what happens to those that
have heard his voice? She arose straightway, her spirit
came again. Our Lord was given power over
all flesh. That's what it says in John 17.
But why was he given, or for what purpose was he given power
over all flesh? to give eternal life to as many
as the Father gave him. What? And her spirit came again. She awoke and she arose. She awoke and she arose. Oh, you understand, really, to
be honest, no more needs to be said than that. Christ said arise
and she arose. Ah, I like it, I like it, I do.
Because Jesus Christ speaks in power, and his word is perfect,
effective, and complete. He spoke, arise, and his word
did not return unto him void. She arose, she arose. Oh my, what a glorious word of
life from the one who is life. Arise, arise, oh my. You understand, something else
Spurgeon said, it says I have a great need for Christ and I
have a great Christ for my need. He says arise, you arise, oh
my. What's that song? Jesus speaks
and speaks to thee. Say, poor sinner, lovest thou
me? Lord, it is my chief complaint that my love is weak and faint. Yet I love thee and adore. Oh, for grace to love thee more. Understand this, there is no
love until he says arise. And when he says arise, guess
what? He said it, not only in power, he says arise in love. In love. His great love toward
us. And we love him because he first
loved us. Oh, I like that, I do. Oh, you
understand? When Christ said let there be
light, there was light. There was light. When he said, Lazarus, come forth,
Lazarus awoke and arose. What? Straightway. Matter of
fact, Lazarus came out of the grave still wearing his grave
clothes bound hand and foot. And he said, loose him and release
him. He's alive now, he's not to be
bound ever again. Jesus Christ had set him free. Jesus Christ had arisen from
the dead. And when he said it, it happened. I'm of the opinion that when
he said Lazarus, Lazarus woke up. And when he said come forth,
he arose and he came forth. Oh, I like that. Still bound,
but still coming. I like that too. Alive and coming
to Christ because there's power in the voice of the Son of God. Oh my. Ezekiel 16 verse six,
I'll leave you with this. And when I passed by thee and
saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when
thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, live. When the Lord Jesus Christ does
that to one of his people, they live. They arise. They arise. Oh my, I like that. When Jesus Christ says live,
you live. By the word of his power, by
the power of his love for his people, by the plenteous eternal
redemption of his precious blood, by his glorious grace and mercy,
his people live when he calls them. Arise, I like that, arise. What was it, Isaac Watts wrote
this. Buried in sorrow and in sin,
at hell's dark door we lay, but we arise by grace divine to see
a heavenly day. When he says arise, you arise. I'll tell you something, folks.
You don't get any better than that. Because you understand,
That little girl looks so dead, she fooled them people out there. But even when you are dead in
trespasses and in sin, unable to see or recognize the light
of God in Jesus Christ, when Jesus Christ speaks to you and
tells you arise, your spirit will be changed. and you will
arise. What'd he tell her? What'd he
tell them, excuse me? He commanded to give her meat. You know what? We are to desire
the sincere milk of the word. And there's coming a time when
you're supposed to be getting some meat, too. What did it say
in 23rd Psalm? The Lord prepares a table for
me in the presence of mine enemy. You know what? After you arise,
he's gonna send you some meat. He's gonna feed you. The Lord
is our shepherd. I shall not want. And he makes
a table for us in the presence of our enemies. And guess what? He's gonna command somebody to
send you some meat. The good shepherd cares for his
sheep. and the Son of God cares for his people. He feeds them
in pastures of love. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time and this place. Lord, most of all, for
your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his own body and blood
made a sacrifice a perfect sacrifice, a perfect offering unto you and
pleasing to the Father. Oh, Lord. And he is coming and
telling his people, each and every individual one that were
chosen before the foundation of the world, and he is telling
them to arise, to live, and they live, Lord. And they help us
to walk as we go through this world. Give us the meat of your
word. And be with Walter and Paul as they
come to preach today, and be with your other men as they preach
your gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In whose name I pray,
amen.