Book of Luke, chapter 7. Book of Luke, chapter 7. And we're going to begin there in verse 11. Luke, chapter 7, verse 11. This isn't a 7-11 message, but Luke, chapter 7. We'll begin there in verse 11. And when you find your place, stand with me, if you would, and we'll read the Word of God together. I've entitled this message, Welcome Back. Welcome Back. Luke, chapter 7. The Bible says it came to pass the day after he went into a city called Nain, 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. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said unto her, Weep not. He came and touched the bier, and they that bear him stood still. And he said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying that a great prophet is risen up among us and that God hath visited his people. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea. and throughout all the region round about. And the disciples of John showed him of all these things. Let's pray. Father, we come to you tonight. Lord, we thank you. Lord, for just your grace. Lord, your love. Lord, just who you are. Lord, I pray you'd help us tonight as we open up your word and as we have now read through it. I pray God that you would just use it tonight to speak to our hearts. You said it would not return void. So we pray Lord that it would go out and do that which you have called it to do. Lord, I pray that you would encourage us tonight, that you'd help us this evening. Whatever it is that you need to do in our hearts, Lord, that's what we're asking for. Lord, I pray that you'd help me tonight to preach, and Lord, that you would just use me, God, as a vessel for your honor and for your glory. Lord, just help me to be filled with your spirit, and Lord, just help me to have clarity of thought and mind, God, as I preach. Lord, I just thank you for all that I know you're gonna do, and this we pray in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Now here in chapter seven and there in verse 11, we see the Lord Jesus had just, he had been in Capernaum and he had left Capernaum, now on his way to Nain, which is about 25 miles away. And so you're looking at about a day's journey from Capernaum in the beginning of chapter seven to where he is here in verse 11. So he's walked a day's journey, around 25 miles. He gets down there and the Bible says in verse 11, it came to pass, that after he went into a city called Nain, that many of disciples went with him and much people. The interesting thing is there in verse 11, we look at the name of Nain and it means pleasantness. Nain means pleasantness or loveliness. It can also mean beauty. It can also mean green pastures. So the Lord left Capernaum, which is known as a place of comfort, and he comes down to Nain, which is a place of pleasantness, loveliness, beauty, green pastures. So he comes down to this place, and it has the name of refreshment. Lord had now come to a place that is a refreshing place, a place of beauty. And listen, I'm thankful for moments in life that are this way. I'm thankful for the green pasture moments. I'm thankful for the pleasant moments and the beauty times in life when things are good and things are great and the lovely times. I'm so thankful for those and let us cherish those every time they come because we also know that with those times there also come some difficult moments. There also come some hard times. And so, you know, there's difficult moments, there's things that we can learn to appreciate about them, things that we can learn in the midst of it. But I tell you what, when you're walking through some green pastures, enjoy the times and enjoy the moments when you're walking through them. Embrace them and praise God for them and thank the Lord for them. And here we see the Lord Jesus, He came down to the city of Nain, which is a place of pleasantness, a place of beauty, and a place of loveliness. But while he was here, there was something that he came across in this place of refreshment. Now, sometimes, as I said, even though we're walking in some refreshment places of life, there can also come sometimes, as I said, there can be some moments when sometimes things are not as refreshing, and things are not as pleasant. things don't always tend to stay the way that we would always like for them to be at all times. But listen, I'm thankful when we get to heaven, it'll always be that way, amen? When we get to heaven, it'll always be joy. When we get to heaven, it'll always be goodness. We don't have to worry about sin and not to worry about none of this stuff no more, but here on this earth and this life and our Christian journey, we embrace the lovely times. and we cherish the lovely times, but in the Christian journey that we're in, sometimes in these places of blessings and encouragement, there also come some moments that are a little bit more difficult as we are living our life. And you notice we see that he came to Nain, and it is a refreshing place, it is a lovely place, but when the Lord got down there, notice the Bible says in the next verse, in verse 12, that when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out. Now, not exactly what you would be looking for. You come to a place of refreshment. You come to a place of beauty. And when you get down there, and one of the very first things you see is a funeral possession that's coming out, and the people are carrying a coffin, in essence, that was really closed in on each side, but really open on the top. And here they are, they're carrying a man who had passed away, a dead man, out of the city. Not exactly, perhaps, everybody else was prepared to see, but listen, I'm thankful it didn't take God by surprise. I mean, God knows what's coming in and out of everything, and so we see the Lord Jesus, he comes up, and as he's in this place of pleasantness, he then comes across, we see that as he comes to the gate of the city, a dead man that is being carried out there in verse 12, and the Bible says, the only son of his mother, she was a widow, and much people of the city was with her. And so it was a lady there, she had a widow, she had lost her husband, she had now lost her only son, and so now here she is, and she of course is burdened, and she of course is sorrowful as to be expected about what is taking place. But the Lord Jesus, He comes up on this, and one of the things that I think we can see is that Christ notices that whenever He gets there, is even in the places of beauty and the places of loveliness, that He was, if you want to call it this, I don't know if I say reminded, but He was introduced, I guess once again, to the sinful nature of man. and what happens because we have sinful natures. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. And so here he is once again being confronted with the aspect and the idea that death is upon all men and that all men are sinners. And he is now confronted once again with the consequences of sinful man. And so not only do we see that Nain was a place of refreshing, but we also see that it was a place of remembrance of the ruin of sin, what sin does. to life, what sin does to our bodies, and what sin does to those that are around us. The Bible says the wage of sin is death. I don't know how this young man passed away, I just know that he was dead. But nonetheless, as a result of sin, because we have a sin nature. But we see that his family, listen, it didn't just affect him, it affected everybody around him. He was, his mother was upset and the Bible says that there were lots of people there that were with this widow lady and mourning with her and walking with her. So the Bible says in verse 12 that much people of the city was with her. In verse 13, and the Lord saw her and he had compassion on her. You know, I'm thankful that in the moments that we're in our dark times, when even the Lord Jesus, of course, he sees what we are confronted with in life. He comes to the city, he sees a coffin being carried out, and there's a young man in it, the funeral possession that is going by, and he stands there and he's watching it, and the Bible says in verse 13 that he had compassion on this lady. I'm thankful that we see in this text that we see a Lord But even in the midst of the ruin of sin, he sees the consequences of it. That listen, that we die because we're sinners, yes. So he sees the consequences of the sin. But yet there in verse 13, we see that the Bible says that he had compassion on her. And so not only do we see that in the midst of the ruin of sin, we see his regard to the sorrow, regard to the sorrow. He understood why these folks were upset. He understood why this woman was sorrowful in her heart. I mean, her husband had passed away. Now her only son, who was a young man, had now passed away. And so she was broken in her spirit. She was sorrowful in her heart. And Christ understood that. Christ knew that, and Christ understood that, and I'm thankful for a God that whenever He comes to us in our dark moments, in our dark times, I'm thankful for a God that doesn't shy away from those times in our life, but when we are in some dark moments, that He has compassion on us in the midst of those dark times. In the midst of those dark moments, we don't see that Christ shied away from it. In essence, there in verse 13, as He was faced once again with the reality of a sinful human nature, and looking at death face to face, yet once again, there in verse 13, the Bible says He saw her, and He had compassion on her, and He said to her, weep not. He walked up to her in her dark moment. He walked up to her in her dark time. He walked up to her in this moment of brokenness that she was in, and had a desire to speak to her, had a desire to encourage her, and had a desire to help her along the way in this dark time that she was in. And I am thankful tonight for a God in heaven that doesn't shy away from the dark moments in our life, but is willing to help us, to get us further along down the road in these weak moments that we're in, in these dark times when we need to be encouraged in our life. And the Lord Jesus stepped in on the scene and did just that. And I'm thankful for a God that does that. I'm thankful for a Savior that knows how we feel. I'm thankful for a Savior that when he saw it, he didn't just step back and step away and didn't want to be involved and didn't want to take part in any of those things, but I'm thankful that he had time. to spend with her. I'm thankful that he had time to talk to her. I'm thankful that he had time to love on her. I'm thankful that he had time to encourage her in her life. Because I tell you what, we can be in some times when everything's blissful, and everything's glorious, and everything's pleasant, and everything's lovely, and everything is going good. And listen, we embrace those times, and we rejoice about those times, but we still understand that in that journey in life, we are still ever faced with our sinful condition. And here the Lord Jesus, He comes once again, and all the other people too, once again are confronted with the consequences of a sinful life. Because the weight is of sin is death. And so, in the midst of this dark time, in the midst of this dark moment, we see that Christ had compassion. And I'm thankful that Christ knows our hurts, and I'm thankful that Christ knows our pains, and I'm thankful that Christ knows what to say and how to help in these moments. And I'm thankful, listen, have you ever been in some dark moments in your life, and then you was broken on the inside and sorrowful, began to lift up your voice in prayer, and sometimes you couldn't even quite get it out, but then maybe sometimes you did, but then it seemed like the Lord, maybe perhaps in the midst of that struggle, that battle that you was in, that a memory verse, a verse of scripture came to your heart, and you leaned on that verse, and that verse gave you strength, and it gave you courage to keep pressing through that moment. Listen, I believe. It's God's way of helping His people to get through these moments. And here she was, faced with a dark time, and the Lord Jesus stepped up to her and said, Weep not. Weep not. He was there with her to help get her through that dark time. I'm thankful He had the time. I'm thankful He understood. I'm thankful that He had compassion. I'm thankful that He knew. There in verse 13, we see the ruin of sin, but we also see the regard to sorrow. He regarded her sorrow. The Bible says in verse 13, when he saw her, he had compassion on her. And he said unto her, weep not. Because you see, when he saw her, he didn't just turn away from her. He saw her and he kept looking at her and he kept observing the situation. And it was that right there that he began to have compassion on her. And it was that which helped him to make that step towards her to encourage her along in her journey. Hey, I'm thankful that God helps us in those moments. I tell you what, these times in life when we feel like, man, I don't know if I can take another step. Sometimes there's moments in life when we feel like, I don't know if I got any more left to give. I don't know if I can keep stepping forward. I don't know if I can keep taking the battle flag of Christ forward. I'm wore out, you know, and I'm tired, and I'm dealing with this, and I'm dealing with that, and I just don't know how much more I got. And then next thing you know, the Lord Jesus comes along and says, or just gives you whatever it is that you need at that moment to help you take another step. Just to take another step. The Bible says, shows us here the Lord Jesus, he just steps up. He didn't turn away. The Bible says that he saw her and he didn't turn away from her, but he had compassion on her. He regarded her sorrow, even in the midst of the ruin of sin, he regarded her sorrow. And there in verse 14, not only did he regard her sorrow, but the Bible says in verse 14, and he came and he touched the beer, which is coffin. He came and he touched the coffin. Anytime the Lord Jesus touches anything, you can guarantee it's gonna be different. Anytime the Lord Jesus is around, anytime the Lord Jesus, his presence is there, anytime Christ touches anything, Things always change. The Bible says in verse 13, so we see that he had compassion on her, he regarded her sorrow, he took the time to speak to her, he took the time to in essence really mourn with her in that momentary moment. He understood her hurt, he understood her pain, he understood her loss, and we see that he understood here the ruin that sin has on people's lives. that because the wages of it is death, but yet God in the midst of it had a desire to help and was compassionate with her. And the Bible says in verse 14, so much so that not only did he just say, weep not, but he also in verse 14, he came and he touched the coffin. The Lord Jesus reached into nescience. The Lord Jesus nescience reached into death. He looked death straight in the face. Saul, this young man, who laid there and was lifeless. The Bible says in the text that whenever he touched the coffin, the men stopped. And I'm getting this visual image, I always like to Get the visual images in my mind, I'm picturing the Lord Jesus right there at the gate of the city in the funeral possession coming out. And the Lord Jesus walking up to this woman and perhaps many others that are weeping and crying. And He walks up to her and tells her not to weep. And as the men are walking, He walks up straight to the coffin. And when He walks up to the coffin, He touches it and everybody stops. And I imagine everybody's eyes is probably on the Lord thinking, what's getting ready to happen? What's He doing? And the Lord's standing right there and He's looking down. at this young man that is in this coffin. The Bible says he reaches his hand over and he touches the coffin. And when he touches the coffin, it was a It was something about the Lord touching that coffin that really just kind of done something in my heart because I was just like, you know, here he is, here we see the one who is the author of life, and here he is, he's looking at death right in the face. He's looking at this young man, of course, who is tainted with his sin nature just like we all are, and is now passed off on the scene. He's looking at this young man who was perhaps, whatever it is, I'm not exactly sure, the Bible don't say, what took his life, but whatever it was, I'm sure if it hadn't been for that, he had a great long life ahead of him. He could have done tremendous, wonderful things, who knows? But here he is looking down at a young man who is no longer alive, who has passed off the scene and nobody can do anything about it. And he's looking down at it face to face. And it just really touched my heart because I was thinking to myself, not only are we going to jump out of The physical where he's actually looking down at a dead body. Now let's do this. What are we carrying that we're getting ready to dispose of that is dead, but Christ can make it back alive? What are we carrying that we think it's done? It's finished. It's over. It's unresponsive. There's no way. But anytime Christ is involved, It changes things. And so we look at our lives tonight and we say, okay, what am I carrying out in this city, getting ready to bury? What am I carrying out the city? Now, there may be some things we need to carry out the city and bury. But what are some things that we are carrying out the city that there can be life and it can be great and it can be good, but we look down at it and we say, well, I'm just tired of trying, I'm just ready to give up, and yes, it was good, but I just don't got any more lead to put in it, but God's coming along and He's looking at this stuff and He's looking down at it thinking, man, I can touch this thing. and turn it into something tremendous. I can touch this life and make it beautiful. I can touch whatever it is that is in your life that you're getting ready to toss out the door. Listen, that you're getting ready to bury out in the field. Listen, I can touch it and make it alive. And so we just ask ourselves, what is it that we have and maybe that we're carrying that we've just kind of give up on that we think's over and that we think's done? But I'm just trying to get us to see also as well here tonight is when Christ touches it, he can bring it back to life. So before we bury it, why don't we give the Lord a chance to touch it? Bring it by the Lord. Say, God, here it is. The Bible shows us here that he regarded the sorrow, but he also reached out to death. The Bible says he came and he touched the beer. He reached his hand over to the cuff and he touched, he touched that which was carrying that which was dead. And the Bible says in verse 14, and they that bear him stood still. And he said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And the Bible says in verse 15, of course, the Lord Jesus had just spoke. He says, young man, I say unto thee arise, and the Bible says in verse 15, and he that was dead sat up and began to speak. How amazing this is, that that which they were fixing to bury, that the Lord Jesus touched the coffin and he spoke to that which was dead and brought it back to life right there on the spot. And so what is it that maybe we're carrying that we think is dead, but if we'll just bring it to Jesus and bring it through the path of Jesus and say, Lord, I need you to speak some life into this. God, I need you to touch that which is dead. God, I need you to speak some life into this. And we see the Lord Jesus. He looked at this young man. He looked down at that coffin. He saw this young man. I imagine his eyes closed. hands folded, and the Bible says in verse 15, everybody's standing around, and the Bible says in verse 15, or verse 14, that he spoke, he said, young man, I say arise, and in verse 15, the Bible says that he that was dead sat up, and I'm just trying to get us to see tonight that we got a God in heaven that can bring life back to that which is dead, that we don't have to bury everything that we love, that there are some things that, listen, We just need to run it by Jesus, and let Him put His hand on it, and just let Him bless it, and let Him talk to it, and let Him touch it in your life, and bring something back to it. The Bible shows us here that He reached into death. He looked death, looked at it, and He spoke to it. And He said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. Notice in verse 14, that's all that he said. There wasn't anything else that was left to say. He said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. You know what that means? That means that God has the authority. The Lord Jesus had the authority over death. He had the authority, he was able to bring back that which was dead. He was able to resurrect that which was dead. And the Bible said in verse 15 that he that was dead sat up and began to speak. Can you imagine what the guys that were holding that coffin, imagine what was going on in their minds. And here they are holding this coffin, you know, and they got guys on each side, and the Lord comes up to it, and he talks, and he reaches over, he touches the coffin, he's looking down at this young man, and he says, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And the next thing you know, he just. Hey, what's up, guy? What's going on? What are y'all doing? Where we at here? Can you imagine how amazing that was? When these people saw and realized that the man in front of them had authority over death, that the man in front of them, the amazing thing that he did, that he spoke and a man was resurrected. He said, young man, I say to the horizon, listen, I'm just trying to get us to see and understand tonight there's lots of things we may be carrying out of our life that we think is long gone and dead and ready to be buried, but if we'll just run it by the presence of God and we'll just let God speak to it and breathe life into it, listen, we'll see that that which was dead, we don't necessarily have to bury it. We can rejoice with it once again. We can have fun with it once again. We can love it once again. But there in this verse, we see that that which was dead sat up. And the Bible says in verse 15, he delivered him to his mother. So he reached into death and brought back a reunion for his mama. You only imagine what this mama felt. Imagine how she felt in this moment when she saw her little boy rise up out of that coffin and sit up and look around and start talking to everybody. You imagine the amazement that was there that day as they watched the Lord Jesus, who had power and authority over all things, bring a man back to life that they knew for sure was dead. The Bible says he delivered him to his mother. What a great reunion because, see, that was part of the intention. He had compassion on her, and what he desired to do was to bring this young man back and reunite him with his mother who so desperately loved him. What a precious reunion that was. He delivered him to his mother. He had compassion. Verse 16, the Bible says, in fear, and there came a fear on all, and they glorified God. That's what all the miracles were intended for, for people to glorify God. People today do stuff, try to glorify themselves. But he says, and there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying, that a great prophet has risen up among us, and that God had visited his people. Verse 17, next truth. The Bible says, and this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judah. Now, if we're gonna spread a rumor, at least we can make it a good one. And this rumor of him went out throughout all Judah. and throughout all the region round about. This rumor went out, this tale went out, this story went out of what Christ had done. And there were lots of people that ended up believing, I'm sure, and coming to the Lord because of this. But understanding just here tonight that in the midst of the dark places that we may walk in, In our Christian journey, we have some lovely times when we walk through some green pastures. We are reminded in Psalm 23 of the precious promises, that though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that I will fear no evil. We also see in the midst of that psalm that the Bible says that He leads us. He leads us beside the still waters. He leads us into the green pastures. The Bible shows us here that I think when we live our Christian life and we are going through some pleasant moments, that there are some times when we are confronted with things that maybe perhaps we feel like are gone, that maybe you're dead, but before we bury some things in our life, let us make sure that we bring it to God and say, God, can you bring some life back into it? Because listen, sometimes, let's be honest, I mean, you know, sometimes some marriages, sometimes people think, well, the marriage is gone, the marriage is over, there's no fixing it, but let's bring it to God and let God speak to it. Let's bring it to God and let God bring some life into it. Let's bring it by the presence of God and let God speak to it. Let's bring it by the presence of God and let God touch that which is dead. Let God speak to that which is dead. There's all different kinds of situations in life. that we may think are totally over until we just let God talk to it. Let God talk to it and let Him bring it back to life before we bury it. Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful, Lord, for what you did for this lady and this young man. Lord, I know that they were forever grateful for it. But also know, God, that you even had even a greater purpose than that was the idea that through this miracle that other people would see and believe on you and come to an understanding of who you are. Lord, there's always a greater purpose in everything that you do. And so, Lord, we pray tonight, God, that you'd help us as we consider these verses, these things we've read tonight. Lord, we consider our lives. God, we're thankful. We're thankful and we embrace, Lord, the green pasture times of life. We're thankful and we embrace the good times, the lovely times, the beautiful times. But Lord, we also know that in this Christian journey that we are confronted with the effects of sin and the consequences of it. Lord, we understand that we walk in a ruined nature and because of that, that there are things, not only us physically, but things that are affected by that in our life that seem like they're dead. Lord, I pray here tonight as each man examines his own self, and God, before we bury things out in the field, Lord, help us to maybe perhaps bring it by your presence and let you speak to it. Lord, that perhaps before we give up on something, perhaps maybe before we take things outside of the city, we would run it by your presence first. Lord, I pray that you would speak to our hearts tonight and give us comfort. Lord, we're thankful that you took time for these people. And we're thankful, God, that you regarded their sorrow. Lord, your word says you are nigh unto those of a broken heart. And so, Lord, I pray that you'd help us tonight to be thankful that you do regard our sorrow. Lord, as the piano plays here tonight, and we think about our own lives, and things that we go through, and things we struggle with, and things that we battle with, it could be that here this evening you say, you know what, there's some things that I just want to lift up to the Lord tonight, and I just want to make sure that I love it, I love it so much that I want to make sure that I don't put it in a coffin and carry it out the gate of the city. That I bring it by God first and let Him look into it and let Him touch it and let Him breathe His words on it and let Him bring life to it. With God all things are possible. He can save to the uttermost. We serve a God that is able. That is not hindered by anything. So if we think of something in our life, we can say, Lord, what is it that I can bring to you that feels like it's dead? God, I love it, but it feels like it's gone. It feels like there's nothing there, like there's nothing left. God, I'm bringing it by you today, asking for your help. Praying, God, that you'd speak to it. God, that you'd breathe on it. Lord, that you'd just bring some life back into this moment, or this situation, or this circumstance. It could be that you're here tonight and you're lost, not saved. No greater time and no greater moment than to get saved than tonight. So if you don't know Christ, I encourage you, take this old preacher by the hand and say, preacher, I want to get saved tonight. Preacher, I want to rededicate my life, perhaps, or I just want to give myself to the Lord in His service. I just want to serve God, be a blessing to the Lord and people around. As folks continue to come to the altar, if you're done praying, you pray for them. Maybe you want to come up and pray with them. There's so much to pray for. Amen. I love you. Amen. I love you. I love you. Amen. Amen. Aren't you glad we serve a God that with all things, God, with all things with God is possible. Amen. With God, all things possible. Praise the Lord. Faithful God that we serve tonight. Let's be dismissed. Father, we come to you this evening. Thank you, Lord, once again. God, for your grace, Lord, I pray to you to help us tonight as we leave and go home. I pray, God, you give us a good week. Lord, just may we be a light to others around us and help us to serve you and help us not to be weary in well-doing. God, help us to Just be the men and women you've called us to be throughout this week. Lord, I pray that you would bring us even in contact with folks that we could maybe help them, be a witness to them, but Lord, maybe even some folks that can help us along in our journey as well. Lord, we just pray for a good night, keep everybody safe, and all this we pray in Jesus' name, amen.