Luke chapter 7 verse 11 down
through verse 17. I'm taking the title for the
message from the word the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to a dead
man found in verse 14. And when the Lord of glory came
and touched the bed, the funeral bed, They that bear the dead
man stopped in their tracks. And he said, young man, I say
to you, arise. At the command of God,
the young man sat up and began to speak. The title of the message,
I say unto thee, arise. This is very familiar to the
words, the Lord of Glory speaks at the tomb of another we just
read about in John chapter 11, when he stood in front of the
tomb of a man who had been dead for four days and his body was
rotting because of the corruption of sin in his body. And the Lord
Jesus Christ stood there in front of that grave and he said, Lazarus,
come forth. And he that was dead came forth. Now you think about that. He
that was dead came forth. Young man, arise. And he that
was dead Now, who can raise a dead man? Pretty good question, isn't
it? Who can raise a dead man? The
best doctors we have. The most trained physician we
have. No physician or any mere man
can raise one from the dead. Who can raise a dead man? Only
the one who has power over death. That one is none other than our
Almighty Lord Jesus Christ. He is God our Savior. The Lord said, I kill, I make
alive. I, the Lord, do all these things. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ,
if you want to find Revelation chapter 1, The revelation of
Jesus Christ declares unto us that the Lord of glory has power
over death. In Revelation chapter 1 verse
1, When I saw him, John said, I fell at his feet as a dead
man, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not, I
am the first and the last. Now verse 18, Revelation 1, I
am he that liveth and was dead, the Lord died for our sin according
to Scripture. Behold, I'm alive forevermore.
Amen, so be it. I have the keys of hell and death."
That is, the Lord Jesus Christ has the ownership. He's Lord
of all things. He's Lord of life and He's Lord
in death. He said, I kill, I make alive. Now, for the last several years,
we've been studying through 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and
we have read about a man by the name of Elijah. Elijah, the prophet
of God, was called of God the mighty prophet of God. We know
from 1st Kings 17 that Elijah raised up a young boy who had
died. Remember? 1st Kings 17, 21. We also read of another prophet
of God. His name was Elisha. Elisha also
raised up a young boy who had died in 2nd Kings 4, 32. and 34. Now who can raise a dead
man? Can Elijah? No. Can Elisha? No. Both Elijah and Elisha prayed
to the Lord to raise them up from the dead and he heard their
cry and the Lord raised them up from the dead. Now in our
story today the Lord merely speaks a word And death must depart. Death must depart from this body
of this young man. You see, when the Lord speaks,
He speaks not as a mere man. Turn back to Luke chapter 4.
Luke chapter 4 verse 31. Luke 4 verse 31. And He came down to Capernaum,
a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath day. And
they were astonished at His doctrine, for His Word was with Power. He has all power in heaven and
in earth. And when He speaks, speak the
Word only. You remember back in Luke 7,
verse 7? Luke 7, 7, "...Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy
to come unto thee, but say the word, and my servant will be
healed." Where the word of the King is, there is almighty and
absolute power. His word is quick and powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword. Now we're going to see this happen
again if you'll find Luke chapter 8. Here is another occasion when
the Lord raised up a young 12-year-old girl in Luke chapter 8, verse 50, verse 49. While He spake, there cometh
one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter
is dead. Trouble not the master. Luke
8 verse 50, When Jesus heard it, he answered him, 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,
and James, and John, and the father, and the mother, and the
maiden, and all wept and bewailed her. But he said, Weep not, she
is not dead, she is sleeping. And they laughed him to scorn.
knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, 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. The
Lord Jesus Christ has all power. When he speaks, his word is done. It's accomplished. Now, what
can we learn? Turn back to Luke chapter 7 verse
11. What can we learn from this glorious
story of the Lord Jesus Christ coming upon this funeral scene,
touching the bed of this young dead man and calling him forth
from the dead? Several things we can learn.
Here is the first lesson. Here is the sad and disturbing
Consequence of sin. Of sin. Verse 11 and 12. It came to pass the day after
that he went into the city called Nahum and many of his disciples
went with him and much people. And 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. Here's a sad, disturbing, consequences
of sin. You know what it is? Death. Death. We read Romans 6, 23,
the wages of sin is death. Ezekiel 18, for the soul that
sinneth it shall die. The Lord comes upon this funeral
procession on purpose, sovereign purpose, as this widow takes
her only young son to the cemetery for burial. She had already been
there once before and buried her husband. Now her only son
she takes to the same cemetery to bury her son. Think of her
grief, her pain she's carrying in her soul. Now put yourself
in her place, you who are mothers. And when a young child dies,
what sorrow would overcome your heart? What is the only cause
of sorrow, sickness, and death? What is the only cause of sorrow,
sickness, and death? You know what it is, don't you?
What is it? S-I-N. Sin. James 1 verse 15 says, When sin
is finished, it brings forth Death. Death is the result of
sin. Sin is the root, the fountain
of all of our sorrow, sickness, grief, and death in this world. If we, we, were not full of sin, we would have
no sickness or death, wouldn't we? If we were not full of sin,
we would have no sickness and death. Were we not sinners before
God, we would have no need of an almighty Savior to do something
for us, to save us from our sin. Thank God that this book says
that He came to save sinners. Turn back a page or two. Remember
in Luke chapter 5, in Luke chapter 5 verse 30, But their scribes
and pharisees murmured against him, saying, Why do you eat and
drink with publicans and sinners? They murmured against the Lord,
murmured against his disciples, and the Lord answering unto them,
They that are whole need not a physician, but they who are
sick. I'm not come to call the righteous or good folks, but
sinners to repent." The Lord Jesus Christ came to save such
as we are. Call His name Jesus, He shall
save His people from their sin. How did we get in such a sad
and terrible sinful condition like this? Sinners before God. Well, the book is very clear.
Turn to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, God created
man in his image and his likeness, God created Adam holy and upright,
but he sinned against God and the consequences of that sin
reaches right down to you today, to your children and to your
grandchildren and so forth. Romans 5 verse 12, Wherefore
is by one man, that one man is Adam, the first man, sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, so that death or sin passed
upon all men, for or in whom all have sinned." We have all
sinned and come short of the glory of God. When Adam was created,
he was created holy in the image of God, but when he sinned, Against
God it plunged the whole human race into spiritual and physical
death. We became sinners in Adam. You know what we call that? Original
sin. When he stood, we stood. When
he fell, we fell. Adam was a federal head representative
man of all his race. The only thing a fallen sinner
can produce are more fallen sinners. In Adam, all died. But we have not only original
sin, how have you done on your own? We have all sinned and come
short of the glory of God. That's the absolute truth. God said to Adam in the beginning
of every tree, you may eat freely, but the tree of knowledge in
good and evil thou shalt not eat, for in the day you eat thereof
you shall die. Die. To deny that we are sinners,
I'm talking about what we are, not what we've done. What we've
done is a result of what we are. To deny that we are sinners,
what we are, is to call God a liar. Now a lot of people might be
offended. You calling me a sinner? Absolutely,
that's what I'm calling you. I'm one too. To deny that, what
we are, in Adam, is to call God a liar. I would not do that. Turn to 1 John, let me show you.
1 John chapter one, 1 John chapter 1, beginning reading of verse 7.
If we walk in the light, 1 John 1 verse 7. If we walk in the
light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all
sin. If we say we have no sin, notice
that doesn't say sins, If we have no sin, that original sin
charged to your account, your depraved nature, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. You see, we were born in sin,
shaping in iniquity. If we confess our sins, oh, what
we've done because of what we are, He is faithful and just
and to cleanse us from our sin, If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. If we say we've not sinned, we
make Him a liar and His words not in us. Are you a sinner? Yes, I am. I'm a sinner born
in sin, shaped in iniquity. That's what I am by nature and
you are too. Is there any hope for a sinner
like me? Is there any hope for a sinner
like you? Thank God there is. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
came to save, not good folks, He came to save sinners. Paul said this is a faithful
saying, and worthy of all except patience, that the Lord Jesus
Christ came to save sinners, and then he said, pointed the
finger right back to himself, oh wretched man that I am, I'm
the chief offender. So what is the reason of sin?
Lesson number one. What is the reason of death,
rather? What is the reason of death?
S-I-N. Whenever you see death, sorrow,
and sickness, think of one thing. Sin. Sin entered in. Death by sin. Death passed upon
all men. Why did this young man die? Had
he not been a sinner, he would not have died. Why do infants
die? They've not committed any actual
transgression of their own. a newborn infant, but he dies
because he's a sinner. He has the same fallen, corrupt
nature that his daddy had, and his daddy had, and his daddy
had, right all the way back to the original man, fallen Adam. The second lesson is this. We
not only see the terrible consequences of sin, but thank God we also
see the compassion Which means the bowels of mercy and pity
of our Savior. Look back at Luke chapter 7 verse
13. And when the Lord saw her. Now, you reckon this is the first
time He saw her? I know. He's known this dear
woman for my eternity. The Lord saw her. The Lord arranged
this meeting by His sovereign providence. When the Lord saw
her, He had compassion on her and said unto her, Don't weep. I'm going to give you reason
in just a moment. to rejoice in the Lord. When the Lord saw her, He didn't
simply pass by, turn His head, and look away. He saw her, came
to her, touched that bed, and He had compassion on her, and
then He said, stop crying. Stop crying. As God, He knew
her heart, He knew her sorrow. As a God-man mediator, He felt
her pain. The Lord stood at the graveyard
of Lazarus and He wept with the people. Said in Isaiah 53, Surely
He had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Turn to Hebrews
chapter 2 for a moment. Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter
2, verse 17. Page 305, if you have
the authorized Cambridge. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 17.
Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation, atonement for the sins of the
people. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted,
he is able to succor them." What does that word succor mean? It means to help. to aid, to
sustain, to assist them that are tempted. Turn one page to
Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4, look at verse
14. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He felt her sorrow, He wept with
those that did weep, and He mourned with those that did mourn. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
same compassionate Savior today, He does not change. He said,
I am the Lord, I change not. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
same today, yesterday, and forever. As our great God, He knows all
things. As our great Savior, He has compassion,
great mercy, great love toward His people. Now, let me ask you
this question. How much does He love His people?
How much does He love His people? Well, let's see if we can find
out. Let's turn over here to Romans chapter 5, first of all.
How much does He love His people? He had compassion on them. He loved them and He gave His
life for their sin. Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter
5, look at verse 6. John said, Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that He loved us. He gave Himself for
the sacrifice, a sacrifice for our sin. Romans 5, look at verse
6. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
four righteous men would one die, yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. Romans 5, verse 8. But God commended
His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Turn to one other scripture.
This is a very familiar one. Find the book of Ephesians chapter
2. Ephesians chapter 2. Look at
verse 1. Ephesians 2 verse 1, And you
hath bequickened who were dead in trespasses and in sin. Wherein
time passed, ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in children of disobedient, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as others, but God. who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loves us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace
are you saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through the Lord Jesus Christ." He has compassion on
his people. So much so that he came, gave
his life for the sin of his people. There is no one that can comfort
a grieving heart as our compassionate Savior when He says, weep not. There's no one that can comfort
a convicted heart but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. You see,
He is our comfort. He is called the God of all comfort. Listen to this scripture, 2 Corinthians
1.3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, The
Father of mercies and He's the God of all comfort. I want you
to turn to this one. Can you find 1 Peter? 1 Peter
chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 5 rather, verse
10. 1 Peter 5.10. 1 Peter 5.10. God has loved His people with
an everlasting love, and because He does love His people, He came
and laid down His life for them. 1 Peter 5, verse 10, But the
God of all grace, who hath called us to glory, hath called us unto
His eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after that you have suffered
a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you, To Him
be glory and dominion forever and ever, to make you perfect,
to establish you, to strengthen you, to settle you. What is that?
That's comfort. He's the God of all comfort.
Comfort you, comfort you, my people. Sayeth your God, Isaiah
40, for I have put away your sin. God the Holy Spirit is called
the Comforter, right? When He, the Spirit of Truth
has come, He will comfort you. What does God the Holy Spirit
comfort us with? Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. He put away our sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. Now here's the third thing. Verse
14 and verse 15 in our text. The Lord Jesus Christ, He came
and He touched. Now I want you to notice what
this dead man did. What did this dead man do? What did he do? Did he do anything? Now you know the answer to that
question. He didn't do anything, did he? The Lord came, the Lord
touched, and they stood still, and then He said, young man,
I say unto thee, get up, arise. And he that was dead sat up. He not only sat up, but he began
to speak. And the Lord delivered him to
his mother. I just imagine the Lord embracing
him off of that bed, embracing him, carrying him, and say, here
he is. He's alive. Your son that was
dead is alive. Can you imagine such a sight? You can imagine what's going
through the heart of this mother? Here we see the character of
our God and Savior. He's almighty to raise the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one who has power to give life to dead sinners. And that's the picture we have
here. It goes beyond just the Lord raising up a physical corpse. All that is a picture of how
He raises up dead sinners by His coming, by His touching,
and by His Word. The Father had given Him power
over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many
as the Father had given to Him. We see the Lord of Glory doing
at least two things. Number one, The Lord Jesus Christ,
with the sovereign and almighty hand of God, as the sovereign
and almighty hand of God, He reaches out and touches and lays
hold of that bed. He comes in contact with that
dead man. Just like it says over here,
turn back a couple pages to Luke chapter 5. Luke chapter 5, you
remember the leper who came? Luke chapter 5 verse 12. And
it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold, a
man full of leprosy, who seeing Jesus, fell on his face, and
besought him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.
And he put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will do
thou clean. And immediately his leprosy departed. By his touch, the Lord Jesus
Christ reached out and touched the bed of this dead man. And by his touch he identified
himself with this dead man. And this is exactly what happened
upon Calvary. The guilt of God's people and
the sin of God's people was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ in
His crucifixion. He took our sin, He took our
guilt, He took our wrath, He took our death and His own body
on the tree. He contacted death. How could
that be? The lovely Son of God who knew
no sin, had no sin, and did no sin, the Scripture said the Lord
had laid on Him. the iniquity of us all. The Scripture
said, he bear our sin in his own body on the tree. God made
him to be sin for us. Who knew no sin that we might
have life, that we might have righteousness in Christ Jesus. So he reaches out and touches,
he contacts death. The second thing he does here,
the Lord speaks the command for death to leave this body. This dead man was totally passive,
wasn't he? Totally passive. Not active. This dead man was totally passive
in his resurrection to life. He did not do one thing to merit
the Lord's attention or earn the Lord's mercy. The Lord touched
him, the Lord spoke a word to him, and he that was dead sat
up. and began to speak. This dead
man and the Lord raising up this dead man is a picture of what
we are spiritually. Dead in sin, having no spiritual
life without God, without hope, and without Christ. You see,
by nature, death is in this body, but we come forth from Adam's
loins, dead in trespasses and in sin, spiritually. We have
no spiritual life. And the Lord does two things
for us as well. He touches us in sovereign mercy,
He speaks to us in power, and He raises us up spiritually and
gives us spiritual life in Christ Jesus. I remember reading years
ago this statement. I can't remember who it was,
it may have been Arthur Pink. He said, Our Lord is more than
a mighty orator beseeching men, He's a mighty operator, raising
dead men to life. You hath He quickened who were
dead. Lazarus come forth. That's exactly
what the Lord does today. In mercy, He reaches down His
powerful hand. He touches us in grace. He touches
us in mercy. And He says, Sinner, live! And
by his command, by his word, he raises us up from the dead. Regeneration is an absolute must,
is it not? Turn to John chapter 3. He must
raise us from the dead spiritually and give us spiritual and eternal
life in Christ or we'll never embrace salvation in Christ alone. As the Father raiseth up the
dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickens whom He will."
John chapter 3, look at verse 3. The Lord said to this religious
Pharisee, he was very religious, but he was lost and dead in his
sin. John 3, 3, the Lord said, Verily,
or truly, truly, I say unto you, except a man be born from above,
born again, have spiritual life, He cannot see the kingdom of
God. And Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when
he is old? Can he enter in the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? The Lord said, Truly, truly,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, that's the
word, the water of the word, of the gospel and the spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, that which is born of
flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
And then he said, it's a sovereign verse, marvel not that I say
unto you, you must be born again, the wind bloweth where it listeth. Well, I heard it this morning,
didn't you? Four o'clock this morning, that wind came howling
through, woke us up. I couldn't control it. It's sovereignly
sent. The wind blows where it listeth,
and you hear the sound of it, but you can't tell from whence
it come or whether it goeth. So is everyone that is born in
the Spirit of God. The Sovereign Spirit of God,
He'll quicken whom He will, He'll have mercy on whom He will. Now, our salvation is a resurrection
from the dead. You have He quickened who were
dead. That's what happens when God
saves a sinner. You see, salvation is not a mere
reformation. Salvation is a resurrection from
the dead. There are three things that are
necessary for our salvation. It involves three things. I'll
give them to you quickly. The first one is this, His will. Not your will. Your will is not
free. Your will is in bondage to your
nature. First things involved is His
will. Salvation is by the sovereign
will of God, not the will of man. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Secondly,
His work. His will and His work. I'm talking
about His priestly work for us. That is putting away our sin
by the sacrifice of Himself and bringing in and providing for
us and freely giving to us and everlasting, justifying righteousness. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? His will, His work, and thirdly,
His Word. Just speak the Word. Speak the
Word. Turn to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter
1. Of His own will begat He us with
the Word of truth. Lord, just speak the Word. 1
Peter 1, verse 23, being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of an end corruptible by the word of God. which liveth
and abideth forever. This is the ever-living Word
of God. For all flesh is its grass, and
the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withers,
the flower thereof falls away, but the Word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the Word which by
the gospel is preached unto you." You've got to hear the gospel. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of the Lord. Now in closing, let me give you
this. Turn back to Luke chapter 7, the last part of verse 15. He delivered him to his mother. Who did the raising up from the
dead? He did. Who did the delivering
of this young man to his mother? Salvation of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. And then it says, he that was
dead sat up and began to speak. Now my imagination just started
rolling right there. What would he say? What would
he say? We hear often times, don't we,
about people who had a car wreck and went into a coma and for
a while their heart quit beating and they come back and they have
this wild story. All they have is wild imagination.
This man, you know what he spoke? He said, salvations of the Lord.
Paul was taken to the third heaven and he came back and said, I
can't even tell you about it. You wouldn't understand. But
this man, if he spake anything, he said this, salvation is of
the Lord. And whatever he did speak gave
honor and glory to the Lord alone. Salvation is of the Lord. I deliver
it is totally and only by the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, no
man can come unto me except the Father which sent me. Draw him
and I'll raise him up at the last day. You remember the prodigal's
father, what he said, my son was dead and is alive again,
was lost and is found. Now this story has a conclusion,
verse 16, verse 17, And there came fear on all, and they glorified
God, saying, A great prophet is risen among us, And that goes
all the way back to that promise in Deuteronomy 18, 18. The Lord
will raise up a prophet from among the brethren. And they
said God had visited His people. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's God Almighty. And this rumor of Him went throughout
all Judea, throughout all the region round about. We are still spreading this rumor. And it is a true story. We're
still telling the story of how God saves sinners by His grace. He is able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. Christ is the mighty Savior.
Christ is the only Savior. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. May God give us life and faith
in Christ to look to Him. He said, Whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Yes, I do. I believe the record of God,
salvation of the Lord.