The Gospel of Luke 04/30/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

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to 1st John chapter 3, our New Testament reading, and Pastor Jason will pray for us afterwards.

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1st John chapter 3. See what kind of love the

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Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And so we are.

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The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are

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God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when

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He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as he is pure.

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Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.

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You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning.

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No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you.

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Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

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The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in Him.

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And he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil.

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Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

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For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother.

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And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

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We know that we have passed out of death into life because we are the brothers. Whoever does not abide in, whoever does not love abides in death.

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Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

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By this we know, love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

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But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does

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God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

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By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our hearts before him. For whenever our heart condemns us,

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God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.

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And whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

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And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

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Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him, and by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us.

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Let's pray. Our Father, as we hear these words, this is a difficult passage.

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For many of us, Lord, sin. Each one of us sin, every one of us sin.

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But we pray, Lord, that we would not make a practice of sin. We pray that we would see sin as you see sin, and that we would have a great hatred of it, that we would recognize its futility and its folly.

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Lord, we confess our sin to you, and we are so thankful that you have forgiven us all our sin because of Christ.

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So, Lord, we confess our sin to you, and we look to Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith.

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Lord, we pray that you would do a great work in each one of us. Help us to pursue holiness. Help us to pursue righteousness.

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Help us to walk in your truth, even when we are tempted to go another way. Lord, we pray that we would not just love in word, but we would love in deed and in truth.

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So, Lord, help us to make a practice of living godly lives. Help us to serve one another.

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Help us to love one another in this fashion. And, Lord, as we continue to worship you through the sermon, we pray,

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Lord, that we would see clearly what your word has to say. Help us to learn these truths and these principles, and we pray that in the spirit, we would apply them to our lives, that we might live obedient lives, lives that glorify and please you.

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Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles to Luke chapter seven. Now, you'll notice that I have included another written sermon by Charles Spurgeon on this passage that we're dealing with.

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I read it the other day and found it to be very instructive, encouraging, and so I wanted to relate that to you and pass that on to you, long as you don't read it now during church, okay?

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But he was very, very good at it. Very good, he was a classic in his own self, I tell you, the

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Lord had gifted him wonderfully. Well, we'll read

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Luke seven, 11 through 17. It's not a long passage. It's one that's quite concise.

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A few details. Here the Lord Jesus raised a young man from the dead and presented him alive to his mother.

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Luke seven, verse 11. Now, it happened the day after that he went into a city called

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Nain and many of his disciples went with him and a large crowd. And when he came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

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And a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, do not weep.

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And then he came and touched the open coffin and those who carried him stood still.

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And he said, young man, I say unto you, arise. And so he who was dead sat up and began to speak.

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And he presented him to his mother. And then fear came upon all and they glorified

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God, saying, a great prophet has risen up among us and God has visited his people.

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And this report about him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

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Whenever we open the scriptures before us, the first and primary question that we should ask is what does this tell me about God?

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The Bible is principally a book that reveals God to us in his trinity.

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As God has manifested himself in his various persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the

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Holy Spirit, that should be our chief desire and aim, to know God.

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This should be our primary concern. It should be the chief quest of the Christian, to know

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God more thoroughly and more fully. And this is the primary interest that moves us to pick up the

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Bible and study its contents, or at least it should be. If we're not moved to read the

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Bible, if we do not desire to learn from its pages, it's probably because we have grown indifferent about knowing

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God and we have ceased to seek him earnestly. And so it'd probably be a good and regular prayer for each of us that we ask

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God to give us an increasing and abiding interest and compulsion to know him more fully and to find him disclosed to us in the word of God.

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More about Jesus should be our prayer and our desire. Now, of course, when we come to the gospels, we can expect to learn much about the

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Son of God, our Lord Jesus. As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

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The Bible states such. His character does not change. And although with respect to his humanity, he underwent development while growing up in Nazareth, once he reached maturity in manhood, his character was fixed forever.

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The attitudes he exhibited, the teachings that he gave, the concerns he expressed, the works he did, all testified not only to who he was, but to who he is even now.

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As truly God, truly man who is seated on the throne of God, his father. And so a story such as this, which reflects our

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Lord's dealings with this widow woman and her son, instructs us about how our Lord views things even today.

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Even from his exalted throne, though he may seem, but is not really very far removed from us.

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We'll consider this passage first by looking at the details of this miracle and how they reveal the character of our

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Lord and the manner in which he relates and works with people, people in need. Secondly, we'll address this miracle as illustrating the work of God to bring about the spiritual resurrection of all the elect of God, from spiritual death into spiritual life through Jesus Christ.

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And lastly, we'll just speak briefly how this miracle portends the future bodily resurrection from the dead onto life of all

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God's people at the end of the age. So let's first consider the details of Luke's briefly narrated miracle of raising the widow's son.

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Before us, we have this account displaying our

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Lord's wondrous power as he traveled about Galilee. And so we read in verse 11, now it happened the day after that he went into a city called

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Nain, and many of his disciples went with him and a large crowd. Luke specified that it was the day after, that is in the

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New King James Version. We might ask the day after what? Well, it was the day after our

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Lord had healed the servant of a Roman centurion in Capernaum. The Gentile master had expressed great faith in the regal authority of Jesus Christ to heal his servant from a distance.

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This Roman military officer did not regard himself worthy to have Jesus to come into his house, but he had faith that Jesus Christ need not come into his house in order to cure his cared for servant.

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Well, it was the day after that event that Jesus happened, according to the

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New King James Version happened to approach the city of Nain, and there and then raised from the dead the son of this widow woman.

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And so on the day before, Jesus had healed a slave of a

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Roman centurion who was at the point of death. But on this day, Jesus raises the son of a widow, a son who is past the point of death.

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God was glorifying himself through his son, Jesus Christ. We read that a large crowd along with many of his disciples had traveled with Jesus.

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The distance covered from the place they were the day before Capernaum was about 25 miles, maybe even 30 miles.

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So this large crowd had followed Jesus this distance, probably having arrived at Nain near sunset when so often funerals took place.

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Nain is mentioned only here in the entire biblical record. It was a small town, probably better described or called a village as in the

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ESV, rather than city in our New King James Version.

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It was small enough that it did not have a perimeter defensive wall as did most larger towns in that part of the world at that time in history.

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The name Nain means pleasant, perhaps due to its picturesque setting.

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It was within the tribal area of Issachar. Dying Jacob said of this tribe and its region,

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Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds. He saw that a resting place was good and that the land was pleasant.

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And so he bowed his shoulder to bear and became a servant at forced labor. The land of Issachar would be found to be pleasant.

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And this town of Nain within Issachar means pleasant. And indeed it was so.

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Nain lies just west of Mount Tabor, which arose to a height about 1 ,880 feet above the plain, situated about 25 miles west of the

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Sea of Galilee, a little southwest of Capernaum. Farther to the north was the much higher

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Mount Hermon, which reached over 9 ,000 feet. It was snow covered through much of the year.

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And so Nain was pleasantly set in sight of both Tabor and Hermon. We read that as Jesus approached the entrance to the city, he met a funeral procession coming out of the city.

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Verse 12, and when he came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

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And a large crowd from the city was with her. The gate was probably just a gate that stood between two buildings and served as an entrance into the town, since the city did not have a defensive perimeter wall.

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The funeral procession was carrying the body of the man outside the town to the burial place that was just east of the city.

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And a large crowd with many from the city joined in this procession. John Gill, an expert

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Hebraist, pastor of the church 100 years before Spurgeon took it in London, he wrote, it was looked upon as an act of kindness and mercy to follow a corpse to the grave, to which may be added and what must always tend to increase the number at such a time that according to the

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Jewish canons or rules, it was forbidden to do any work at the time a dead man was buried and even one of the common people.

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And so these two large crowds met at the city gate. Here, wrote one, nearby the city gate on the road that leads eastward to the old burial ground has this procession of the great multitude, which accompanied the prince of life, met the other great multitude that followed the dead to burial.

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These two groups met. Charles Spurgeon described the meeting of these two crowds.

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Suddenly the procession is arrested by another, a company of disciples and much people are coming up the hill.

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We need not look at the company, but we may fix our eyes upon one who stands in the center, a man in whom lowliness was always evident and yet majesty was never wanting.

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It is the living Lord, even he who only has immortality and in him death has now met his destroyer.

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The battle is short and decisive. No blows are struck for death has already done his utmost.

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And with a linger, the chariot of death is arrested. And with a word, the spoil is taken from the mighty and the lawful captive is delivered.

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I wish I could speak like that, think like that. Verse 11, he recorded, now it happened that these two crowds met one another.

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And of course, we know that this meeting of Jesus with this funeral procession that did not just happen and that it was a coincidental meeting, but rather it was due to the eternal decree and purpose of God that these two crowds met at this time in this place on this occasion.

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Why did Jesus travel to Nain on that day and arrive at just that time? Why did this young man die at this time in order to be buried on this occasion at this time when

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Jesus arrived? Had Jesus arrived earlier, the young man's body would have been in his home with his grieving mother.

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Had Jesus been a little later or the man had died earlier, the body of the young man would have been interred in his tomb.

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It was in God's plan and purpose that these two crowds meet at this place and at this time.

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Our God works all things according to the counsel of his will in order to accomplish his good purpose in glorifying himself through history through his son,

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Jesus Christ. And so providence had Jesus meet this funeral procession.

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It was no accident for actually there are no true accidents in God's universe in his dealings with people.

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There are no chance happenings or good or bad luck for that matter in God's world.

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Although it's common for people to think and speak in this manner. There certainly are unusual happenings, freak occurrences, but the notion that things happen by chance runs counter to the idea of God's providential dealings in his world as set forth in his holy word.

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Providence governs history, God's dealings behind the scenes to accomplish his purposes in history.

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Luke gives the detail that the one who had died was a young man. We're also informed that he was the only son of his mother and she was a widow.

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This of course would have been known by all in the funeral procession, but it's apparent that Jesus also understood at once the circumstances of this widowed mother and her only son.

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We read in verse 13, when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, do not weep or stop weeping.

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We do not know how this young man died, whether he lingered long in sickness or died suddenly, we don't know how old he was.

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We do know that his death would have been an overwhelming tragedy for his widowed mother. Her husband had died in the past.

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Her only hope of comfort and provision in her later years would be through this son, her only son, who would care and provide for his mother.

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And so his death would leave her not only alone, but destitute. She had no future while the

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Lord had compassion on her. The concern of our Lord was fixed upon the grieving mother, not directly on her deceased son.

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It was the mother who caught his attention. He was compassionate toward her. Our Lord empathizes with those who grieve and suffer heartache in their suffering.

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And so here we see the Lord Jesus manifesting his own concern for widows. David gloried in God due to his compassion and care for the helpless, saying to God, sing praises to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds by his name,

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Yah. You see there the shortened form of Yahweh, Jehovah.

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And rejoice before him, a father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is

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God in his holy habitation. And yet we should not think that God has compassion for all widows without distinction.

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For in God's judgment in history, he has filled lands with widows and orphans. Here are

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God's words through his prophet Jeremiah who spoke of God's judgment, that he brought upon the rebellious people of Israel.

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For you will have pity, for who will have pity on you, oh Jerusalem? Who will bemoan you or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing?

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You have forsaken me, says the Lord. You've gone backward and therefore

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I'll stretch out my hand against you and destroy you. I am weary of relenting and I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land.

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I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people since they do not return from their ways.

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Their widows will be increased to me more than the sand of the seas. And I will bring against them, against the mother of the young men, a plunder at noonday.

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I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them suddenly. Doesn't appear that the

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Lord was too concerned about many of those widows. God does not have compassion on all widows for there are those who experience a judgment in history due to their sin or the sin of their people.

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You might also recall our Lord Jesus declaring in his sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth that there was a time in Israel's history when

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God passed over many needy widows in Israel but chose to be merciful to a Gentile widow outside of Israel.

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Jesus had said, but I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut up three years, six months and there was a great famine throughout all the land but to none of them was

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Elijah sent except to Zarephath, Gentile lands, to the region of Zidon, to a woman who was a widow.

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And of course, that statement resulted in the people of his hometown, his synagogue, wanting to stone him, want to kill, throw him over the brow of a hill.

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God is sovereign, merciful and gracious to whom he chooses while justly leaving others in their sin and misery and God is good in doing so.

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Moses had once asked God to reveal to him his glory. Well, what was God's response?

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Then he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and I'll proclaim the name of the

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Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have compassion on whom

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I will have compassion. God is sovereign in the matter of for whom he has compassion and shows mercy, not upon all.

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Certainly God is good and that he's gracious and has compassion on people, but he's also good and that he's not gracious and compassionate to everyone without distinction.

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In his sovereignty, he chooses on whom he will have compassion and extend his mercy. God is sovereign and sinful people chaff at that.

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They don't like that. Our Lord saw this widow and he had compassion on her.

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Again, we read, when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her. And this moved

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Jesus to tell her, do not weep. God purposed to be merciful and compassionate on this woman's plight and alleviate her of her sorrow, filling her with comfort and joy.

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And then we read in verse 14. Then he came and touched the open coffin and those who carried him stood still.

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And he said, young man, I say to you, arise. Thankfully, Christ can do more than just show sympathy.

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He took immediate action. He was not as the three friends of Job who came to him and upon seeing his grief, were unable to alleviate

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Job of his sorrow, who were even unable to speak words of comfort to him and they were silent for seven days and seven nights.

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Oh, Christ had sympathy, but more. He brought immediate relief. Jesus touched the open coffin, which had probably a wicker byre on which the body was born or carried.

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Alfred Edersheim, a converted Jewish man in the 19th century, set the scene for us.

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We can now transport ourselves into that scene up from the city close, up from the city close by came this great multitude that followed the dead with lamentations, wild chants of mourning women accompanied by flutes and the melancholy tinkle of cymbals, perhaps by trumpets amidst expressions of general sympathy.

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And along the road from Endor streamed the great multitude which followed the Prince of Life. And here they met, life and death.

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The connecting link between them was a deep sorrow of the widowed mother. He recognized her as she went before the byre, leading him to the grave upon which she had brought into life.

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He recognized her, but she recognized him not, had not even seen him. She was still weeping.

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And even after he had hastened a step or two in advance of his followers quite close to her, she did not heed him and was still weeping.

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But beholding her, the Lord had compassion on her. Those bitter silent tears which blinded her eyes were strongest language of despair and utmost need which never in vain appeals to his heart who has borne our sorrows.

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We remember by way of contrast the common formula used at funerals in Palestine, weep with them all ye who are bitter of heart.

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It was not so that Jesus spoke to those around, not to her, but characteristically, be not weeping.

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But what he said, that he wrought. He touched the byre, perhaps the very wicker basket in which the dead youth lay.

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He dreaded not the greatest of all defilements, that of contact with the dead, which rabbinism, that is the rabbis, and its elaboration of the letter of the law had surrounded with endless terrors.

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And then upon our Lord touching the byre, the bearer stopped. And after reading Edersheim's comment, you can probably see why.

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On their part, it must have been surprise and shock when Jesus reached out and touched that byre.

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This was not to be done. Again, as Edersheim had stated, the

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Jewish rabbis regarded the greatest of all defilements was to come into contact with a dead body.

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Prophet Haggai spoke of this. On the 24th day of the ninth month and the second year of Darius, the word of the

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Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, now ask the priest concerning the law, saying, if one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil or any food, will it become holy?

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The priest answered, said, no, rightly, no. And Haggai said, if one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?

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So the priest answered and said, it shall be unclean. And then

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Haggai answered and said, so is this people, so is this nation before me, says the Lord, and so is every work of their hands, and what they offer there is unclean.

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But before us here at Luke seven, we read that our Lord came into contact with this dead body, but he did not then become unclean, unfit for the service of God.

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No, he touched the byre on which the dead body of the young man lay, and he caused this dead body that had been unclean to come alive.

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Amazing. This young man was no longer unclean. We read, and he,

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Jesus said, young man, I say to you, arise. Incredible. Of course, the

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Holy Scripture set forth a general law regarding physical death. It has said it's appointed for men to die once, but after this, the judgment.

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But God can intervene and change the normal and natural course of things in order to accomplish his purpose in history, and he did so here.

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This young man was not appointed to die once, and then the judgment, but rather, God appointed this man to die twice, and then the judgment.

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Now, in this man coming to life, though we commonly refer to Jesus resurrecting him from the dead, it would be better to refer to this miracle as a resuscitation from the dead, rather than a resurrection.

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There has only been one resurrection of a man from death, and that was the Lord Jesus when he rose from the dead on that first resurrection

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Sunday. True physical resurrection from the dead is to come alive to never die again.

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This young man had his physical life restored to him, but for a time, but he would again face death, dying twice.

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I read the account the other day in a commentator talking about what his experiences must have been while dead, coming back alive, and knowing he has to die another time, and I didn't cite some of it because I thought some of it was rather creative, but it was interesting to read.

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There are a number of souls recorded in Scripture who similarly were raised. Both the prophets

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Elijah and Elisha resuscitated the dead, restored them to life, and of course, our

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Lord restored this young man to life as well as the 12 -year -old daughter of Jairus, and his friend

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Lazarus is recorded in John. And we also read in Matthew that when our

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Lord was resurrected from the dead that there were many who came forth from their graves and went into the city, but all these were resuscitated from the dead, and they died once again after having lived out their days on the earth that the

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Lord had granted to them. We read of the command that Jesus gave and immediate result, verses 14 and 15 state, he said, young man,

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I say to you, arise, and so he who was dead sat up and began to speak, and he presented him to his mother.

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John Gill wrote, that had been dead, for he was now alive, as it was a clear case to all his relations and friends, or they would never have brought him out to bury him.

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He sat up upon the bed, or byre, began to speak, both which his sitting up and speaking were plain proofs of his being brought to life.

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He delivered him to his mother, for whose sake he, Jesus, raised him from the dead, commiserating her case.

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Wherefore, as Christ showed his power in raising the dead man, he discovered his great humanity, kindness, and tenderness in delivering him alive to his mother, which might be done after he came off the byre, by taking him by the hand and leading him to his mother, giving him up into her arms.

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Think what effecting scene this must be. Can you imagine? And we then read the reaction of those who witnessed this miracle, and fear came upon them all.

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They glorified God, saying, a great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people.

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And this report about him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region. John Calvin wrote of this fear.

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Fear came upon all. A sense of divine presence must have brought fear along with it, but there's a difference between the kinds of fear.

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Unbelievers either tremble and are dismayed or struck with alarm, murmur against God, while devout and godly persons moved by reverence willingly humbled themselves.

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Fear, therefore, is here taken in a good sense, because they gave the honor which was due to the power of God which they had beheld and rendered to God not only homage, but thanksgiving.

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God hath visited his people. And again, John Gill commented on this people's fear.

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Then fear came upon them all. Not a fear of dread and terror and of punishment as in devils or demons and wicked men, but a fear and reverence of the divine majesty whose power and presence they were sensible must be there at that time.

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And they glorified God, they praised him, gave thanks to him, striving this amazing action to divine power and gave

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God the glory of it and blessed him for the Messiah who was sent unto them as they concluded

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Jesus to be from this wonderful instance, saying that a great prophet has risen among us, even that great prophet

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Moses wrote of and said should be raised up among the children of Israel and that God had visited his people.

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The people, of course, were right in their assessment and declaration for Jesus Christ is indeed a great prophet.

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They made this association for in raising this young man, he did what the prophets Elijah and Elisha had done in the past.

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Jesus Christ is our high priest, our king, and our prophet. He reveals God to us.

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This miracle was a revelation of God through his son, Jesus Christ. And the people's fear was a true reverential fear of God having witnessed his great work in raising this young man by Jesus.

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They knew that God had visited his people. Now there is the reality of God's omnipresence and that the presence of God is everywhere in his fullness.

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God is omnipresent, is as full right here with us in this place as he is in heaven.

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He's fully present everywhere. There's no place where God is not.

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However, there are special times and special places in which God discloses and manifests his presence in history in unique and significant ways.

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He takes the veil off our eyes and we see his glory. These manifestations of God's presence and power are often referred to in scripture as a visitation from God.

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But we shouldn't think that somehow he is away from us and all of a sudden he comes now and he's with us.

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There is a sense he's always with us, but this visitation is a revealing of himself to us in ways that we didn't comprehend.

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We didn't see him. Sometimes God's visitation is one in which his judgment is manifested in history.

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Jesus announced Jerusalem and judgment coming upon that people, that generation, because you did not recognize the day of his visitation.

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But thankfully, there are times when God's visitation is one of blessing and deliverance, and that's what we have here, of course.

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The miracle that occurred in the town of Nain and Galilee but the report about Jesus and what he had done in raising this young man and returning him to his widow's mother went throughout all

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Judea. Now they weren't in Judea, they were in Galilee, but the report went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

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A miracle of this nature gained much notoriety and popularity among the people for this man from Galilee.

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Well, now after having considered the details of Luke's account, let's reflect on how this miracle may be understood as parallel with the

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Lord causing the spiritual resurrection of his people resulting in them becoming his disciples.

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And so this miracle of raising the physically dead illustrates that similarly, God raised the spiritually dead to spiritual life.

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Charles Spurgeon made this application. You read his sermon later, you'll find this in that word.

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The narrative before us records a fact, a literal fact, but the record may be used for spiritual instruction.

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All of our Lord's miracles were intended to be parables. They were intended to instruct as well as to impress.

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They are sermons to the eyes, just as his spoken discourses were sermons to the ears. We see here how

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Jesus can deal with spiritual death and how he can impart spiritual life at his pleasure.

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Oh, that we may see this done this morning in the midst of this great assembly. Spurgeon preached to his congregation there in London.

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This episode displays the great ability of Jesus to impart life to the dead. And although it's true that it's recorded that he only raised three persons from physical death during his earthly ministry, over the past 2 ,000 years, the

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Lord has performed miracles likened to this one on tens of millions of occasions.

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For it is so that every time a soul experiences salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ, that person has been the recipient of spiritual life that the

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Lord had imparted to one who had been born into this world spiritually dead. The same power that raised this young man off his bier to physical life was the power

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God put forward in saving you from your sin when you became a Christian. And Paul declares that in Ephesians one.

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Just as this young man of name was restored to physical life, the Lord bestows spiritual life upon those who are spiritually dead and trespasses in sins.

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And so we might set side by side the raising of this son to life with the Lord having raised us true

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Christians onto spiritual life. There are two kinds of life spoken of in scripture, physical life and spiritual life.

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Of the two, spiritual life is more desirable. For even if you're physically alive but spiritually dead, death will ultimately reign.

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But if you are spiritually alive, whether physical death comes or not, eternal life will ultimately reign.

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The Lord Jesus spoke of these two kinds of life. In John 5, 24 and following, most assuredly

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Jesus declared, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life, shall not come into judgment, that is not be condemned in judgment, but has passed from death into life.

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There's the resurrection. Most assuredly I say to you the hour is coming and now is.

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He's not talking about a future physical resurrection, he's talking about his ministry of bringing people to spiritual life.

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The hour is coming and now is when the dead, he's talking about the spiritual dead, will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live.

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For as the father is life in himself, so he has granted the son to have life in himself and has given him,

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Christ, authority to execute judgment also because he is the son of man. Well, after talking about spiritual death and spiritual resurrection, he now talks about physical death and physical resurrection.

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Do not marvel at this. The first miracle is greater than this one.

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Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming. He doesn't say and now is. The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves, he's talking about physical death here, will hear his voice and come forth.

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Those who have done good, as the Bible defines what is good, to the resurrection of life.

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Those that have done evil, as the Bible sets forth what is evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

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And so, Jesus spoke of two kinds of life that he will impart to people. In verses 24 and 25,

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Jesus was speaking of spiritual life that he imparts to spiritually dead people. In verses 28 and 29, he spoke of physical life, that of the future general resurrection of all mankind on the last day, when he returns a second time in order to judge mankind.

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Of the two kinds of life, the imparting of spiritual life to those who are spiritually dead is more marvelous than the future general physical resurrection of the dead.

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He declared, of the future physical resurrection, don't marvel at this, which implies that it does not compare to the great grace and power that he manifests when he saves a sinner from his sin unto eternal life.

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That's the greater miracle, when God imparts spiritual life to a spiritually dead person, than when he restores physical life to a physically dead person.

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Now, the word of God, of course, speaks about coming to salvation in different terms. Being converted to Christ is set forth as a new birth in John 3.

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Jesus told Nicodemus, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

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That's what regeneration is, new birth. The apostle Paul likened a sinner coming to salvation in Jesus Christ to be a powerful act of creation that God affects in a person.

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He wrote, for it is the God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,

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Genesis 1, creator, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, who is an act of creation when

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God saves a sinner. But in John 5, 24 and following, as well as Ephesians 2, 1 and following, the word of God speaks of coming to salvation in Jesus Christ to be a spiritual resurrection, in which

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God imparts spiritual life to dead sinners. So, here's the

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Ephesian passage, I trust it's familiar to us all. And you, he, God made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin, spiritually dead, in which you once walked according to the law, the course of this world, according to the prince and the power of the air, the devil was your

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God, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves.

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We were all born into this world, spiritually dead, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh of the mind, were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

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What made the difference? Verse four, but God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you've been saved, raised up together, made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, were enthroned with Christ, so that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

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That's an amazing statement. Here you have sovereign grace.

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People are not saved by their free will, they're saved by God's free will. You were dead and he purposed to raise you from the dead to spiritual life.

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You were as unresponsive as that young man laying on that bar. You were not capable, you didn't want to, you resisted.

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At least he was passive, he wasn't resistant, but you and I as sinners, we're resistant, aren't we?

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It takes greater grace to save us who resist God than somebody who's totally passive.

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Well, let's consider this, the spiritual condition of them who are spiritually dead. Spiritually dead have no concern for Jesus.

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Of the two large groups of people who met at the gate of Nain, the one who was least concerned about the presence of Jesus was this dead man.

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The dead man was, of course, completely oblivious to his surroundings. He was totally unaware of the presence of the

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Son of God standing there. He had no capacity to see his person or hear his words, and so it is with the non -Christian.

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He is as spiritually dead to spiritual things as this man was dead to physical things. He is dead in his trespasses and sins, as we just read that in Ephesians 2.

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He is unable to know God, to understand truly God's word. There's no spiritual life there.

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There are actually two problems that prevent non -Christians from experiencing spiritual life.

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First, unconverted people cannot understand their need of salvation nor fully know God's ways of salvation.

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They don't have that capability. They're dead spiritually. And so the first problem is that he's incapable of having true spiritual understanding of his condition and the true nature of God and his ways.

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Paul wrote, as it's written, I have not seen nor ear heard nor ventured into the heart of man the things which

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God had prepared for those who love him. He's not talking about things in heaven, although it's often given that spin.

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He's talking about salvation. It doesn't, and no one has ever seen or heard.

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It never even entered into the heart of man, the kind of salvation that's set forth in Christ in the Bible. Go to any other religion all over the world.

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You're not gonna find it. I have not seen it, never entered in the heart of man, the kind of salvation that the

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Bible sets forth. But God has revealed them to us by the spirit.

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See, that's the only way you can know it. For the spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?

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No one. You know how I feel by looking at me because you're a human being like I am.

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You know what it is to think, to reason, to be disappointed, depressed, angry, delighted because we're of the same essence, same nature.

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But he's arguing God is so different from us, nobody knows who God is and what he's like.

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Even so, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God, only the Holy Spirit. Now, we've received not the spirit of the world but the spirit who is from God.

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Why? Here's a purpose clause. That we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. It has to be revealed to us by the

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Holy Spirit or we're not gonna know. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the

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Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual words, spiritual words from the scriptures.

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But the natural man, this is the unconverted man, the natural man born into the world does not receive the things of the spirit of God for their foolishness to him, nor can he know them.

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A non -Christian cannot know that, oh, he might have some understanding in his mind about what's being said, but he can't know them so that they are, the true meaning of them, the true significance of them, the true relevance of them, he can't know them.

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An unregenerate soul cannot know God or the true things of God. God must illuminate his mind and give him a new heart to overcome this result of sin in all mankind.

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Paul wrote, for God who said, "'Let light shine out of darkness,' the Creator has shown in our hearts."

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What? To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Unless God turns on the light, the unconverted soul will remain in darkness, love his darkness, that is, in error and ignorance.

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Word of God declares, this is a condemnation, that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

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So the first problem that God has to overcome by his grace is that unconverted people cannot understand their need of salvation, nor fully know

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God's ways of salvation. But there's a second problem. Unconverted people choose not to respond to their need of salvation in Jesus Christ.

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They not only are unknowing, but they're unwilling. And that's the problem, that's where the guilt comes in.

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The second problem must be overcome is unsaved man or woman unwillingness to respond to God's word respecting sin.

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Jesus said of unbelievers, "'But you're not willing to come to me "'that you may have life.'"

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And that's true of everybody apart from the work of grace in the life.

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True life, spiritual life, eternal life is only in Jesus. And men in their dead condition have no concern for him and no clue as to the depravity of their own hearts.

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Why won't God receive me? He loves me. Sin's no barrier, no problem.

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People are clueless. And when you present the way of salvation as set forth in the word of God, they want no part of it.

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Look at John 6. 5 ,000 people wanted to make Jesus king at the opening of John 6.

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And by the end of John 6, his own 12 disciples were tempted to walk away from him.

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People react to God and his truth and reject it. There are other parallels here with this dead man in name.

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The spiritually dead have no idea of the grief they caused their loved ones. That son was clueless as to the grief he was causing his mother.

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The mother was sorry for her son, but her son had no idea or thought of the grief he was causing her. My dad, who at the time was unsafe, said to me once, if I were a

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Christian, I would always be sad if I thought the people I loved would not be with me in heaven. He was right.

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If a lost man is blessed with loved ones who know Christ, he's totally unaware of the grief and concern he causes those

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Christian family members. This young man was the cause of his mother being overcome with grief.

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The Christian mother of an unbelieving son or daughter is equally, even more so, full of grief when she considers her son.

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Her grief may come due to several concerns. First, the unbeliever's conduct may be a source of grief to her.

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Or secondly, the unbeliever has no true and meaningful fellowship with his Christian mother. No common ground, except for the

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DNA they share or genes they share. It's a sad thing to be unable to have fellowship with that loved one.

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His interests are different. His concerns are different. His goals are different. Everything is different. All of life is viewed differently.

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And really, the only thing in common is the few shared experiences and those things which are common, the flesh and blood relations.

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A couple of my brothers have become Christians. My sister and other brother have not. I'm closer to any one of you than my unconverted sister and unconverted brother.

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We've got nothing in common, except parents. For the

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Christian, Christ is supreme. He's the sum of all things. He is the object of the Christian's interest and attention.

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But an unsaved man has no regard for Christ than this dead man had laying on his coffin.

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The Christian and the non -Christian can never bow the knee together in prayer. The two can never reason together out of the scriptures.

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They view all of life, all of existence differently, from different perspectives, with different values, different interests.

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There's no common ground. There's not a shared life there between this mother and this son.

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And then, of course, the certain outcome of spiritual death is a cause of great grief to that loved one.

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The Christian sees the end of all things and orders his life accordingly. The Christian mother knows the certain expectation of judgment that awaits her son or daughter, and it cuts her to the heart.

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Well, after considering the spiritual condition of those who are spiritually dead, let's consider the

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Lord Jesus and the manner that he brings life to the spiritually dead. First, we see the deep concern that Jesus showed in coming to this scene.

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Jesus Christ is one who is with us at our times of greatest need. It was probably evening after traveling many miles that Jesus and the crowd with him arrived in Nain.

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Jesus, his disciples, and the crowd following him were weary as they approached the entrance of this town.

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The two groups of people meet, one group weary with grief, the other weary with travel. The one group weary with grief set the tone of the now united whole.

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All were heavy with sorrow, were deeply sympathetic with this widow's plight. When difficulty, tragedy, particularly death, occurs, we sometimes ask about God's role, his place in all this, where is he?

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Why did he do this? Pastor Jason and I were asked that question Friday by somebody who should know better.

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Why did he not prevent it? Certainly he has the power, and some have concluded from their experience and observation of life's tragedies that God's not present, he doesn't care.

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He's far removed from our existence here on earth, had little concern for our affairs. This is actually the view of the agnostic.

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But as Christ was present at this funeral, he's present at every funeral, although perhaps unrecognized.

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For there's no place where God is not. And now that Christ is glorified and the

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Holy Spirit's been given, although the glorified body of Jesus, his human body, is seated on the throne of God, nevertheless, by means of the

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Spirit, there's no place where Christ is not also there. And second, when

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Jesus came to this funeral procession, he had to take the initiative. Dead man couldn't do anything.

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If a person is spiritually dead, Jesus, Christ must cause him to be raised. You can't raise yourself, you're dead.

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Jesus saw the matter as it truly was. Jesus sees all, assesses the human situation fully, knows what must be done, and thankfully,

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Jesus had compassion on the lost, for he's moved with grief due to our condition.

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And so we see the concern of Jesus. He shows sympathy toward the widowed mother. He had compassion on her.

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This woman was the object of his sympathy, not the son, for she was a widow. Her only son had died, no one to carry on the family name.

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She would be in poverty. There'd be no one to care, provide for her. She was utterly hopeless and helpless.

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You often hear people of the world describe their understanding of God's dealings in the world. God helps those who help themselves.

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No, he doesn't. God helps those who are unable to help themselves, as this widow.

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He has a particular regard for the helpless. And every one of us, when we came to Christ, we saw our helplessness and hopelessness, apart from Jesus Christ.

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Third, Jesus is one who removes our grief. He spoke, young man, I say to you, arise. And though dead, he could obey the command of the

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Son of God. He arose. He that was dead began to speak, proving he was alive.

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Matthew Henry made the application. Christ's dominion over death was evidenced by the immediate effect of his word.

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He that was dead sat up. Have we grace from Christ? Let us show it. Sit up.

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Another evidence of life was that he began to speak. For whenever Christ gives a spiritual life, he opens the lips in prayer and praise.

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Spurgeon's sermon, he said, the first word I said was hallelujah. And then he went home and told his mother,

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God has met with me. You speak, he opens the lips in prayer and praise.

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And lastly, he would not oblige his young man to whom he had given new life to go along with him and his disciple to minister to him, much less as a trophy or show to get honored by him, but delivered him to his mother.

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To attend her has become a dutiful son. For Christ's miracles were miracles of mercy, and a great act of mercy this was to this widow.

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Now she was comforted according to the time in which she had been afflicted and much more, for she could now look upon this son as a particular favorite of heaven with more pleasure than if he had not died.

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We could have gone another 20 minutes, but I realized we're at page 10, we gotta stop.

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But we can talk about how this miracle of raising the physically dead reinforces the biblical truth. God will one day raise from the dead all who are in the grave.

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We read it from John five, do not marvel at this, the hour is coming in which all who are in the grave will hear the voice and come forth, hear his voice.

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Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

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On the last day of history, when the son of God returns to this world in judgment, all who are in the grave will come forth, even the unsaved will be raised and given bodies.

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Now, technically, well, resurrection, they'll come forth in bodies suited for eternity in hell.

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But the righteous will be raised and enter into eternal life after having been glorified as the sons and daughters of God in Jesus Christ, and Paul wrote, you and I can't even fathom what that glory is gonna be like, conferred upon you by Jesus Christ.

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And so may that day come soon, but may many first experience the new life that he imparts by his grace, amen.

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Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word and for these wonderful stories of the

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Lord Jesus bringing relief, our God, showing mercy and grace to people in need.

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Father, I'm sure each of us have ones for whom we are very concerned. Loved ones, our

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God, who give no evidence of the spiritual life of which we have addressed.

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We pray for mercy, our God. We're as this widow mother, totally helpless, our

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God, to bring about any good from those who are spiritually dead.

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Unless you act, they're gonna remain in that state. Be merciful, our God. Yes, you use words, and so help us, our

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God. We pray to speak when we're able to, to speak forth the words of the gospel, the word, for we know that you create life, our

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God, through your word. And so we pray, our God, help us. Fill us with the blessed

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Holy Spirit that we might speak words that you will bless and create life, our

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God, even as those words go forth from our lips. And we'll thank you and praise you, our

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God, for the new life that we see manifested in others about us. For we pray in Jesus' name, amen.