We turn back to Luke chapter
7, but Bob, I've just been sitting here thinking, I sure love you
guys. I really do. I feel like I'm
with my family, because I am, and I'm thankful for you very much. Luke 7, verses 11 and 12, we're
introduced to a very sad scene. And it came to pass the day after
that he went into a city called Nain, And many of his disciples
went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the
gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out. The only son of his mother, and
she was a widow. And much people of the city was
with her. A sad, sad scene that we'll all
face. Death. Death. This woman was already a widow,
and she's now lost her only son. She is now destitute and alone,
and it was a young man who died. That's always shocking when a
young man dies. Think of one of our young men
dying. What happened to this man? Sudden
illness? An accident? The results of sinful behavior?
We don't know but it was a young man who died and there was a
sorrowful funeral procession going on. Now there's only one
reason for death. What is that one reason? Sin. The wages of sin is death. You know when People die or young
people die. People always question God. Why?
Why? Well, I know the answer to that.
We regard every death as sin. I know the answer to every problem.
What caused it? Sin. See, by one man's sin in
his world, and death by sin, and the reason you and I will
die is our sin. This young man pictures us dead
in sins. And there are things that a dead
man cannot do. And there are things that a spiritually
dead man cannot do. That's the point. This young
man was dead. Verse 13. A glorious sight. And when the Lord saw her. Now, this woman didn't know who
the Lord was. She didn't ask for His help or
expect His help. She was in great grief and sorrow,
all alone, in her own mind, destitute, and the Lord saw her. The Lord
saw her. And I like the way Luke says,
the Lord saw her. Not Jesus at this time. We love
His name Jesus. But it was the Lord who saw her,
the one who could do something for her. You see, Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God. Jesus is Lord. And He could do something for
this woman when He saw her. Now, we could see her and feel
sorry for her. And we do. And maybe even feelings
of sympathy and empathy. But there's nothing we can do.
There's nothing we can do to bring this young man back. But
He could because He's God. When Jesus saw her, it says in
verse 13, He had compassion on her. This One who is God,
this One who is absolutely holy, this One who is sovereign, this
One who is just, is One who has compassion for the misery of
men." What a glorious Savior He is. When He saw the multitudes as
sheep without a shepherd, the Scripture says He was moved to
compassion. He was moved to compassion at
the hunger of the multitudes. They were hungry, and He was
moved with compassion. He was moved to compassion by
sick people, and He healed them. He was moved with compassion
at the sight of blindness, and He touched the blind men's eyes
and gave them sight. when that man full of leprosy
came before Him. And that man was breaking the
law when he came to the Lord. He should have been staying outside
the city. But here he comes into the city against the law with
this great need. Lord, if You will, You can make
me clean. And the Scripture says, And Jesus
moved with compassion, reached forth His hand, and touched him,
and said, I will be thou clean. And He said to this woman, Verse
13, And when the LORD saw her, He had compassion on her, and
said unto her, Weep not. Now, this woman has just lost
her son. She's in a funeral for her boy
and that almost seems insensitive. Can you imagine if somebody was
in a funeral and they just lost their son? Don't cry. But the Lord can say this because
the Lord can do something about it. She didn't know that he was
going to do something about this. He said to this woman, weeping
and mourning over the loss of her son. Oh, who knows what all
she was feeling at this time. He looked at her and said, Weep
not. Verse 14, And he came and touched
the stretcher that had the dead man on it. The Scripture says
he touched it. He touched it. Now what he did was something
that was forbidden in the law. You couldn't touch a dead person
or anything that that dead person had touched. You couldn't do
it. You couldn't come into contact
with death. If you did, you were unclean.
You had to be washed. You had to be ceremonially cleansed
before you could be restored to worship. If you came in contact
with anything that was dead, you were forbidden to do that.
Don't touch the dead. Remember the ashes of the heifer
were used if someone touched the dead to cleanse them once
again. If you even touched the bone
of a dead person, you were considered unclean. And yet the Lord touched
this beer stretcher with the dead person on it. I don't know
if he touched the person himself. He may have. I don't know. But
he he touched it against what the law said. Now, this this
law concerning touching dead people, it isn't just about hygiene.
I mean, I can imagine, you know, if I touch something dead, I'm
going to wash my hands, I'm going to clean it. I've washed my hands,
seems like 40,000 times this week. Going in and out of the
hospital, all the time. But this isn't just about hygiene.
I can't come into connection with death. God can't accept
someone who comes into connection with death. If you came into
contact with death, you were unclean, and yet the Lord reached
forth and touched." Now, there's something very powerful in a
touch. And what about His touch? You
know, when you've been breathing and someone touches you and embraces
you and lets you know they care. There's something special about
that. But to think of the touch of the Lord. He touched that
leper. And that leper was cleansed. He touched the ear of that man,
the Scripture says, where Peter was going to kill him. He was
trying to cut his head off. The guy cut off his ear. Bleeding,
in pain. And this was one of the men that
were coming to get the Lord crucified. And the Lord touched his ear. He touched the eyes of the blind,
and they saw. He touched the tongue of the
mute, and he began to speak. He touched Peter's mother, and
the fever left. He touched the terrified disciples
on the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter made that foolish
statement. Let's make three tabernacles. One for these, one for Moses,
and one for Elijah. And a great cloud overshadowed
them, and they heard the voice from heaven, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him! And they were scared
to death. And the Scripture says, Jesus came and touched them.
They were down on the ground. He came and touched them. And
they saw no man save Jesus only. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean." And Jesus moved with compassion, reached forth His
hand, and touched him. Now, to touch means to come into
contact with. The Lord came into contact with death. Now, you listen to this very
carefully. The Lord Jesus Christ in His person never sinned. Never ever did He sin. But He
came into contact with death. He died. And there's only one
reason for death. One reason only. Sin. That's
the only reason. And the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Prince of Life, died. The God-Man died. who his own
self bear our sins in his own body on the tree." Now how can... I've asked myself this. I don't
know how many times I've asked myself this. How can the God-man
die? I mean, I heard somebody once say, well, the man part
died and the God part didn't. I don't know. You know what I
mean? You can't give an explanation for something like this. I don't
know how the God-man died, but he did. He did. He died. And the only reason for death
is sin. He never sinned in His own person,
but my sin, the sins of God's elect, the sins of those who
believe became His sin so that He cried, my iniquities are gone
over my head as a heavy burden. They're too heavy for me. He
died because of sin. He bore the shame, the guilt,
the humiliation of my sin. He touched death. He touched
death. He experienced death. He tasted
of death. He touched this coffin. He didn't say that. More on that
in a moment. But I want to ask a question
about this dead man. Here he is. He's dead. He's a young man.
Tragic. Dead. Sorrow everywhere. The Lord came
and touched. this man's beer or buyer or whatever
you call it. Here's my question. Could this
dead man do anything to bring himself back to life? Everybody here knows the answer
to that question. No, this dead man could not do a thing to bring
himself back to life. Who then can be saved? The disciple
said, with men it is impossible. Can a man dead in sins do anything
to bring himself back into a state of life, favor, or acceptance
with God? Can a man dead in sin do anything?
The answer is no. A dead man cannot. He can't hear
the gospel. He can't understand the gospel.
He may have some kind of intellectual apprehension, but there's no
true understanding. He can't hear the voice of the
Son of God. He can't see any beauty in the Gospel. He can't
come to Christ. He can't believe. He can't. He's unable to. He can't repent.
He's dead. Dead in sins. This man was dead
and could do nothing to give himself life. There he is, dead. There was no cooperation going
on. You see, salvation is of the Lord. Now I think this is
so interesting though in verse 14. He came and touched the beer,
or buyer, and they that bear him stood still and he said,
young man, And isn't this interesting? He's talking to somebody dead
as if they were alive. And that's what goes on in the preaching
of the gospel. He was talking to somebody who was dead as if
they were alive. Young man, what's he talking to a dead man for?
He can't hear. The Lord can make him hear. This is God speaking. Young man, I say to thee, arise. Now, This is what takes place
in gospel preaching. He spake with the authority that
only God has. Young man, you know, I'm praying
right now that God is saying this to some young man here right
now. Young man, I say unto thee, arise. Old man, I say unto thee,
arise. Whoever the Lord is speaking
to, I say unto thee. Oh, the authority of the word
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now just the day before, you
notice that this happened just the day after what we considered
last week. So let's consider this again
in verse 2 of this same chapter. And a certain centurion's servant
who was dear unto him was sick. and ready to die, Luke 7, 2.
And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the
Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
And when they came to Jesus, they brought beside him, instantly
saying that he was worthy for whom he should do this, for he
loves our nation, he's built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went
with him, and when he was not now far from the house, the centurion
sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself,
I'm not worthy of you coming under my roof. I'm not worthy
that you should enter my roof, neither thought I myself worthy
to come to thee. but say in a word." You see, He knew He was God.
He knew all He had to do was will it, and it would take place.
Do you know that? Say in a word, and my servant
shall be healed. For I also am a man set under
authority, having under me soldiers. I say unto one, go, and he goes.
To another, come, and he comes. And to my servant, do this, and
he does it. He understood authority. Whatever you say must come to
pass. He understood authority and he
knew that Jesus Christ has all authority. So when our Lord says,
young man, I say unto thee, arise. Did he have any choice? When
the Lord said, Lazarus, come forth. Could Lazarus say no? No, no. If he says arise, what
takes place? He spoke with the same authority
that he used when he said, light be, and light was. The authority of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He spoke with the same authority
that He had when He said, it is finished. Oh, I love the authority
of that statement. When the Lord said, you know
what? When He said it is finished, it was finished. The salvation
of all of God's elect was accomplished by what He did. Oh, the authority
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's speaking as God. He says,
young man, I say unto thee, arise. Verse 15, and what happened? And he that was dead sat up and
began to speak. And we're not told what he said.
It'd be interesting to talk to Lazarus after he's been raised
from the dead, or to this young man, or that young maid, the
three different people the Lord raised from the dead. when he
was here on earth, what did they say? You know, I mean, I get
Lazarus at any rate, you know, somehow he was brought into glory
and he, like Paul, heard unspeakable things which are not lawful for
a man doubter, but we don't know what they said. But I know this,
he began to speak to show us that this wasn't a trick. Now,
I've heard of where bodies have popped up after they've been
dead in a wake or a funeral where some kind of swelling took place.
I've heard that. Have you all heard of that? It's
happened, I think. But this man, it wasn't just
something like that. He began to speak to show that
life had actually been given to him. The Lord said, as the Father
raises the dead and quickens them, even so the Son quickens,
gives life to whom He will. And salvation is a resurrection
from the dead. This man was raised, this young
man was raised from the dead. The resurrection of the dead.
Now there are three resurrections spoken of in the Scripture. First,
there's the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And one of
the things that I love to think about, they put Him into the
tomb dead. Now, the scripture points out
that his body never saw corruption. His body never saw the process
of decay. And the reason his body never saw the process of
decay is because he satisfied God's justice. The debt was paid.
It was paid. God was satisfied. What happened
during that three days he was dead, I don't know. I have no
idea, neither does anybody else. But I know this. After three
days, all of a sudden, as he was laying there dead, he opened
up his eyes. He removed his grave clothes
and he walked out of the tomb. The resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, he died because of sin. Through his own self, bear our
sins. In his own body, on the tree. He died because of sin. Why was
he raised from the dead? Because complete satisfaction
had been made. Turn to Romans chapter 4, verse
25. "...who was delivered to death,
the father spared not his own son." He was delivered for our
offenses. and was raised again for or because
of our justification." When Jesus Christ was raised from the dead,
every believer was justified. Clear. No guilt. Not guilty. Perfect. Look in Romans chapter
8, verse 32. He that spared not his own son."
What did the father feel as he spared not his own son? There's another thing we can't
understand. Oh, he loved, that's the son of his love, and yet
the son felt nothing but the father's awful frown, cut off,
forsaken by God. He that spared not his own son. Now God's going to punish sin.
You can just write that down. He spared not his own son. God
is just. God is just. Sin must be punished. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up. For us all. And the all is seen
in the context. It's not talking about all men
without exception. He says if God be for us, who can be against
us? He talks about those who before know. He did predestinate
and called and justified and glorified. That's the all. He
delivered them for all those who believe. He that spared not
His Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things?" What could possibly
prevent God from giving you everything if He spared not His own Son?
There's nothing to prevent Him. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. You see, justification is not
something you decide to accept or reject. Justification is something
God does, and you're justified. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God who justifies. Who is
He that can condemn it? Here's the only answer I need.
It is Christ that died, yea rather. that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us." Now there's the answer. Christ has died, yea, rather
that is risen. Oh, don't you love the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ? And then we read of spiritual
resurrection. And you, have He quickened? Ephesians
2-1, And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. We read in John 5 where the Lord
said the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God and David here shall live. You see faith
cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. You know,
I've understood that for the first time. I've always understood
the first part, faith cometh by hearing, and I've never really
understood that clearly, what hearing by the Word of God means.
Well, it's the Word of God that gives the hearing. The Word of
God is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God,
and He gives the hearing. Faith cometh by hearing. You
can't believe something you don't hear. And that hearing, that
spiritual hearing, when the dead hear the voice of the Son of
God, That comes from the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, what happens? You may hear my voice. What good
does it do you? You may even agree with it. It
doesn't do anything for you. If all you hear is my voice,
you've wasted your time being here. Really. But if you hear
the voice of the Son of God, Now that doesn't mean you hear
His voice audibly. But what it means is this. This is the truth. This is God's Word. This is the
truth. You hear the voice like this. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Well let's look at a couple of
verses. Let's look at chapter 1 verse. Verse 4, knowing, brethren and
beloved, your election of God. Now, Paul had never seen the
role of God's elect, but yet he says to these people, I know
your election of God. How do you know, Paul? For our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in
the Holy Ghost. and in much assurance. That doesn't
really mean assurance of personal salvation, but you're assured
of this. This is God's Word. This is the truth. Now look in
1 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, For this cause also, thank we God
without ceasing, because when you received the Word of God
which you heard of us, you received it not as the Word of men, but
as it is in truth, the Word of God which effectually worketh
also in you that believe. You hear the gospel as not the
preacher's opinion, not as the denominational distinctive, but
as the very Word of God, the divine truth. That is spiritual
resurrection. And then there's the final resurrection.
Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood can't inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does
corruption inherit incorruption. I couldn't be in heaven the way
I am. Nor could you. I mean, that's
a holy place. It's without corruption. And if me or you got in there
the way we are, we'd ruin the place. You know, it just can't
be. But Paul says in verse 51, Behold,
I show you a mystery. I love the mysteries of Scripture.
Well, this is a mysterious book, isn't it? It's not something
you can figure out. It's God makes this mystery known. Here it is. We never know it
unless He was pleased to make it known. But Paul says, Behold,
I'm going to show you a mystery, something that we would have
never known unless God was pleased to make it known. We shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed. in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So then,
when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death. Paul speaks with such triumphant
language. Oh, death, where is thy sting?
Oh, grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. And the strength of sin is the
law. As long as God's law is, it shows
all it does is expose sin. But, thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, for as much as you know your labor is
not in vain in the Lord. Now let's go back into our text. We see this resurrection. He
said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat
up and began to speak. Now where there is life, there
is speech. You see, if I've got life, it's
going to affect my speech. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him to the dead, thou shalt be saved. Thou shalt confess
with thine mouth. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so." Now, when God does something for somebody, it changes their
speech. Does that mean they don't cuss
anymore? Well, you ought not cuss. I ought not cuss. But I
dare say, when you get mad in traffic, a word might slip out
of here and there. I'm not excusing it. It's wrong. But this is not
just talking about someone who the mouth is cleaned up. Our
mouths ought to be cleaned up. But what this is talking about
is words that are consistent with the gospel. changes a man's speech, he confesses. Now I might not be able to articulate
much of anything, but I can say this, Jesus Christ is Lord. And I can say this, when he said
it is finished, all my hopes are right there. I confess that
with my mouth. My speech is going to line up
with scriptures. I know this. I'm nothing of myself but sin.
I confess this. I know it. I know it. And I confess this. Salvation
is of the Lord. I confess that. By the grace of God, I die for
that. We confess with our mouth. We confess with our life. I want to identify with the people
that believe Him. You know, it's such a blessing
to me to look out over you this morning and think what a blessing
it is to be with this group of people. I mean, you're my family.
I love you. I want to identify with His people,
those people who believe the Gospel. Those are the people
I want to be identified with. I want to be right there. We
confess Him by Believer's Baptism. I think of what it says they
were baptized of Him, confessing their sins. That doesn't mean
they confessed their sins and then were baptized. Well, I've
got to tell her about what I've done. No, no. We confess in baptism. My only hope is His life, death,
resurrection, and ascension into glory. I'm confessing. The only
hope I have is that when He lived, He lived for me. I'm so sinful
that the only way I can be saved is by what He has done for me. I confess that. When someone
is given life, it changes their speech. They speak in the fear
of God. And he, verse 15, delivered him
to his mother. This woman was given back her
boy. Can you imagine that? She was
in such distress. Oh, she was so distraught. She
lost her son, and she didn't have anybody to take care of
her. She was a widow. And she was given back her boy. When
the Lord said to her, weep not, there was a reason for her to
weep not. And look in verse 16. Now here's
the response to all this. And you imagine seeing this and
beholding it. And there came a fear. A fear on all. Now, when God speaks, there's
only one proper response. Fear. Fear. Not all this hoopla and
the way religious people, no. Fear. It's the fear of God. This is something only a believer
has. The fear, the reverence, the respect for God where anything
you say regarding Him, you're fearful. Because you know who
He is and who you are. The fear of God. And what's it
say next? And they glorified God. They gave Him all the glory.
You see, this is what happens when the Lord raises somebody
from the dead. They give Him all the glory. All that foolishness about salvation
and by works and by free will, they get rid of that. They glorify
God. They give Him all the glory. Saying that a great prophet is
risen among us and that God has visited His people. Oh, a divine visitation has taken
place. And verse 17, and this, I like
this word, and this rumor of him. Now it's the word that's
generally translated word, this word of him, but I like the way
the translators called it a rumor. Don't you love to think of this
rumor circulating all over the place? I love to think of this
rumor circulating in Lexington, Kentucky. A rumor, a rumor. A rumor. This rumor of Him. And that's the only rumor we
want. A rumor of Him. Of Him. Who He is. What He did. Where He is now. Oh, what a rumor. I love this rumor. And this rumor
of Him went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all
the region round about. I pray that this rumor takes
place here. The buzz starts here and it goes
out. And let me give you one last
thing to think about. Romans chapter 10 verse 13 says.
Who? So it. That's a great word. I'm one
of them. You're one of them. Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord, this one that we just read
about, who has the power to raise the dead. Only God can raise
the dead. He has the power to save you.
He's the only one who can do anything for you. He's the only
one who can do anything for me. That's the name of the Lord. The name
of the Lord is His attributes. The name of the Lord is His holiness,
is His sovereignty, is His justice, is His love, is His grace. All
of His wonderful attributes. I'm calling on the name of the
Lord. Lord, save me by an act of Your will. Will my salvation.
Lord, save me by an act of Your justice. blotting out my sin. Whatever attribute you have,
use it in my salvation. Whosoever shall call, call. Call. You can do that right now.
Lord, save me. You can say that in your heart
without anybody ever hearing it. Right now. Lord, save me. Look down in mercy on me. Now,
everybody in here, you're commanded to call. Right now. Right now.
Believer, unbeliever, I don't care what your state is. Call.
Call right now. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Ain't no doubt about it. Call upon the name of this One
who gives life to the dead. He can say he is weak not. I
can say weak not. It means nothing. But he says
it means something because of who he is. Let's pray together.