Sermon by Bob Bradley

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Sermon by Bob Bradley"

Tobias Bradford
5 years ago
Views:

2 When Death Meets Life Sunday, October 22, 2017 Bob Bradley There is a little thought here that we want to talk about this evening. I know I have talked about it before, but there are two words in here that I don t know that I have ever remembered thinking about and talking about before. It is a very simple story. It is a miracle that Jesus did. As we look at this tonight, I want you to think about something. The greatest most phenomenal event that can ever happen and ever will happen is the resurrection of the dead. Not only of Jesus Christ, but the resurrection of anybody that is dead is a phenomenal act. Don t you think? Somebody that has been dead, no doubt, they were dead, their heart stops beating. They are not breathing any longer. Yet to see people like that being brought back into life, that is a phenomenal event. Don t you think? It is an absolute phenomenal event. That is what we want to talk about tonight. Luke 7:11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Luke 7:12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. Luke 7:13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. Luke 7:14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. Luke 7:15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. Luke 7:16 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. Luke 7:17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about. He has just healed the centurion servant in Capernaum. When you read the first part of chapter 7, He is there at Capernaum. They came and told Him about a servant that was sick. We know that He is going to go. The elders, as He is traveling, begin to tell Him what a great guy this fellow was and he was worthy that He needs to go and touch this servant and so forth. We know that Jesus does that. We know that Jesus heals his servant and everything is fine. Capernaum was about probably 18 or 20 miles from the city of Nain. This was the only time that you will read about the city of Nain in the Bible. This is the only event that you will ever read; it is the only time that you will hear or see it mentioned in the Bible. It is

3 about probably 6 or 7 miles from Nazareth. Again, it is about 18 or 20 miles from Capernaum. I don t know how big the city of Nain was. It probably wasn t very big because most of the people in this area, the bigger city was over on the coast, in and around the Sea of Galilee. Chorazin, Bethesda, and Capernaum and those cities over there. Those cities over there that had few hundred thousand people in them. If we understand things correctly, during this time; Capernaum, just the one city on the seashore had at least three hundred thousand people living in it. Three hundred thousand people is a lot of people in one city. It is a great big place. I know we think that everybody was just a few people running around, but there were literally thousands and thousands of people in some of these cities where Jesus preached and taught. Capernaum we are not going to talk about Capernaum but Capernaum was one of the cities wherein most of Jesus might works were done. The scripture will tell us that. Amen! It talks about Chorazin, Bethsaida, but Capernaum was one of the cities where Jesus, most of His mighty works were done. Do you know what happened? As someone mentioned earlier, the Son of Almighty God is preaching and healing and walking on the lake, on top of the water; but they did not believe Him. There were some people that got saved. People, a few along, but there wasn t a lot. When Jesus died there were a few around the cross but it didn t take them long to scatter. Paul, he is getting ready to die. Do you know what you find out? There weren t very many people around. They had all forsaken and left him. Luke was around when he was going to die. Everybody else was gone. Listen. When you look at what is happening here, when things go well, you get a lot of people. When things don t go well, you don t have a lot of people. Luke 7:11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. One day after He is in Capernaum, the Bible says He came to Nain. The Bible says, many of His disciples went with Him and much people. So, as He is traveling along here; He has been healing people. He has been doing some great things. He has done some things. He has turned some water into wine. Do you remember that story? At the wedding of Cana. Do you know what He had done there? He has done some great things. His popularity is growing. The multitudes have seen people being healed. They saw some great things happening here. Now they come. There is a bunch of people. Probably, literally thousands and thousands of people here following Jesus. They are in a caravan here and they are coming toward the city of Nain. This is important. Okay? They are coming towards this little city. The Bible says there are much people with Him. The Bible says in the next verse

4 Luke 7:12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. much people of the city was with her. Do you get that? Get this. I never thought about this until today. You see all kinds of people, thousands and thousands; much people the Bible says, coming with Jesus Christ. You look on the other side, on the other hand; He gets to the gate of the city, do you know what He sees? He sees a funeral possession. He is going to see some musicians that are going to be in front of the casket. There are going to be some paid mourners that are going to be there. They are going to be moaning and crying and weeping and wailing. Then you are going to see the body that is going to be in the casket. Then you are going to see the mother that is following behind. Then you are going to see all kinds of people literally multitudes and multitudes of people following this dead man that is in the casket. Do you know what I thought today? Listen. There is going to be a day. On this particular day, do you know what is going to happen? Life is going to meet death. Listen. Jesus Christ, He is life. We know that in Him there is life. We know that when we live right and do right then death cannot stand. I thought about when He gets up here to where He is at; we have all kinds of people that are following Him. But we all got people that are following the pale horse. They are following death. They don t think they have any hope they don t think that there is ever going to be anything good that is going to come out of this visit. The multitudes of people that have followed Jesus, do you know what they had seen? They saw Him do some great things. They saw Him raise some people, touch some people, heal some people. They knew He was a mighty God and they could do some things. Do you know what? They may not have known what He was going to do on this particular day but they knew He had the power to change people s lives. Do you remember when you were traveling with death? Do you remember when you were traveling towards the graveyard spiritually? Do you remember that? Do you remember when you were dead in your trespasses and your sins? You were going towards the graveyard. You had no hope. You had no hope whatsoever. Yet, do you know what happened to you one time? You met life. You met Jesus Christ. You met someone that could give you life. Get this. There are people on this side. There are people on that side. People following Jesus were probably very happy. They were thankful that He had touched the centurion servant. They were probably talking about some of the great things He had done. They may have been talking about the miracles that He had done. They were very happy and jolly. They were just glad to be there. However, in the other crowd, there were people that was not wanting to be there. They were weeping. Their lives were filled with sorrow. They were heartbroken.

5 I want you to understand something tonight. Jesus Christ is the one that can change all of that. You may be that way tonight. You may be heartbroken. Your life may be falling apart but I want you to understand that Jesus Christ can change your life. Two multitudes of people are going to meet. Jesus coming into the city, this huge multitude coming out of the city. People were mourning. People who were heartbroken. Here is a mother that her only son is dead. She is a widow. People back then, especially women back then did not work like they do today. They would not let you do that. It was a different time and a different society. Do you know what women did back then? They stayed home and raised the kids. Amen! They did not have a public job. They did not have a way to make money. They did not have any way to live. There is no doubt in my mind as the lady here, she is going out towards the graveyard to bury her son; she is thinking there is no hope. Listen. We have a lot of people in our own families tonight that are thinking there is no hope. I want you to encourage them and let them know that there is hope. You may have family. You may have children. You may have grandchildren. You may have a husband, a wife, a father or mother; somebody in your family that is hooked on drugs and they may seemingly can t get away from it. But I want you to understand tonight that Jesus Christ can clean them up. We know that for sure. We have seen God do some great things. In all of our lives, He has done some great things. There is hope in Jesus Christ. Don t ever give up. Don t ever give up on your family. Do they get aggravating sometimes? Sure, they do. You talk to them and it is like they just turn you off. They don t want to hear you. They don t want to listen to you. Don t give up. Hell is a hot place. Hell is going to be a horrible place. The lake of fire is going to be a horrible place. Not only is it hot but people are going to be there for a long time. There is no getting out when you get there. I promise you something, your family, your children, your grandchildren, your neighbors, your co-workers are worth saving. Do you know what? You are not any better than they are. We all come from the same mold. I may not have done what you have done. You may not have done what I have done. However, we were all lost. We all needed a Savior. Amen! Luke 7:12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. She was probably a well-known lady. There was a big crowd of people with her. Probably people were very sorry that her son had died. I don t know what he had died of. I don t know what happened to her husband. I don t know any of those things. She probably was a very well liked and very well-known lady because of all the people that were with her.

6 Look what happens here. The Bible says Luke 7:13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. If you read in the first part of the chapter, Jesus had people come to Him and told Him about the centurion servant that was sick. Do you remember reading that? Someone else instigated the visit of Jesus to come and do the healing. You will find at different times the Lord was invited and people asked Him to come and touch their family or to heal them. Do you know what happens this time? Something totally different. The Bible says, when Jesus saw her. Nobody invites Jesus to come. Nobody invites Him to do anything. Nobody tries to get Him to do anything whatsoever. Here is where the story gets good. Jesus saw something that I hope we see in people. The Bible says here when Jesus saw her; do you know what Jesus saw? Jesus saw this lady weeping. He says weep not, so she was weeping. He saw her in the sorrow and the grief. She was brokenhearted. All kinds of stuff was going on, on the inside. Do you know what Jesus Christ saw? He saw that. Most people during that time when they looked at women they looked down at women. They did not think much about women. They were just a product in society that most people did not think much of. Jesus saw something in her. Jesus saw her weeping. Jesus saw beyond all the faults this lady had. I don t know where she had any or not. I don t have any idea. Do you know what I know? I have a whole bunch of them. Amen! When Jesus saved you and me; He saved us in spite of all of our faults. Jesus saw her weeping. Jesus saw her heart breaking. Jesus saw her life filled with sorrow and all the things that is going on in her mind that she doesn t know what she is going to do, or how she is going to live. She can t hold a job. She doesn t have anybody to take care of her. Her husband is dead. Her son is going. She is probably thinking how she is going to live, what is going to take place, and how is this going to happen. Jesus saw how she felt. I hope we see today, how people feel. People that are genuinely hurting, people that are genuinely suffering. Not everybody you see that is holding a sign I need food actually needs food. Amen! Not everybody that says or comes and wants money or this or that; not everybody needs that. Do you know what Jesus did? Jesus knew exactly He saw this woman. He saw her need. He is the one that is instigating what is going to take place, not her. He is the one that is going to change things for her. He is gong to do that. Luke 7:13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

7 The word compassion is a good word. The word compassion means being moved within the deepest part of one s being. When Jesus saw the hurting in this woman, it moved Him right down to the seat of His emotions, right down in the deepest spot of His life; Jesus was moved because of the suffering of this woman. Let me ask you a question. When people suffer, does it really concern us? When people suffer, does it really touch us? When people suffer, do we really care enough to feel for them and pray for them. Do we? That is a good question. Don t you think? I think that is something we need to more of. In today s society, we are in this dog-eatdog world. We are wide open here and wide open there, going this direction and that direction. We have 90 million things going on in our mind. Sometimes we don t see people s need. Sometimes we don t see what is going on. Sometimes we don t see I m talking about good people, born again people, people that is living in the will of God sometimes we don t see their need. Sometimes people that are lost, doomed, and damned and on their way to a lake of fire; sometimes we don t see their need. Sometimes we don t want to have compassion on them. We look at our own little group, our own little family, what is going on in my life and in your life and say it is not important. Friend, listen. It is important. The same issues this lady is having can visit your house tomorrow. Many of you people sitting have had death come to your family and we know that. The Bible says Luke 7:13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. He said, don t cry. Don t weep. When Jesus is seeing this lady and all the hurt and all things going on, it touches Him. It touches Him at His heart. He says, don t weep. Isn t it wonderful that we serve a God that cares about when we cry? Isn t it great that we serve a God that when we are actually in trouble that He cares about how we feel. Amen! Isn t it great? Isn t it great that we serve a God like that? Luke 7:14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. Jesus came and touched the coffin. Get this. I don t know what the crowd is thinking that is following Jesus. I don t know what they are thinking. I don t know what the crowd is thinking that is following the lady. As I thought today, the crowd that is following Jesus; probably some of them following Jesus, probably some of them in the crowd are probably thinking, what is He going to do now. We have seen Him heal people down the road. We have seen Him with people in sickness, brought back to health. Get this. We have seen Him with the people who have had mental issues and brought back in their right mind. However, does He really have the power to bring the dead back across this great gulf? Does He really have that kind of power? Is He is really going to bring someone that is dead back across this great gulf of death back to

8 life. That is what they are thinking. I think some of them. Do you know what they are going to see? They are going to see Him do that. This young man was dead. No question he was dead. He was in the coffin. Listen. We call this an accident. There was no accident. It was no accident that Jesus met this lady here. It wasn t no accident at all. The sovereign God of the universe, knows everything. Not only does He know everything about what He is doing, but He knows everything about what you are doing. He knows what is going on. Do you know what He knew He needed to do? He needed to get right here at this particular time to meet this lady before it wouldn t have made any difference. They could put him in the grave anyways. We know He could have raised him. Here He is. They meet. One is coming in the city and one is coming out. Multitudes on both sides. He reaches up and touches the casket that they are carrying. Do you know what happens when He does that? The Bible says Luke 7:14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. They stood still. People are thinking what is He doing now. What is He going to do? What can He do about someone that is dead? What can He do? Can He really do anything about that? That is what they are thinking. The Bible says Jesus did this. Luke 7:14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. He touches the coffin, and just simply says, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. The same power that it took bring people back to health that had been sick, the same power that was casting the demons out of people that were controlled and possessed by the devils, the same to do all of that is the same power that it took to raise the dead His power. He is omnipotent. He is the sovereign Lord of the universe. He rules it all. All power both in heaven and in earth is in His hands. He speaks the word. Do you know what happens? This young man gets up. Would you like to have been there on that day? Could you imagine the time that would have been? Sorrow and grief, and heartbroken people changed in an instant to a time of joy and jubilation and glorifying the God of heaven. That is what the Bible says here. In an instant. That quick. Changed. The Bible says Luke 7:14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. Luke 7:15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. It did not tell us here that they had to prop him up. It did not tell us here that they had to help him up. It does not tell us anything like that. Amen! It says that he sat up. Not only that but also, he began to speak. When life that is in Jesus Christ meets death, do you know what happens? The dead comes alive.

9 Do you remember what happened in your life? Do you remember what happened in your life? You were dead. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. You were as dead as this in the coffin, was dead spiritually. You were dead. However, you met life. One day, you met the giver of life. One day, the giver of life came along and said, hey, I want to save you. I want to change your life. You said yes. You were dead spiritually and you came to life. Amen! If you are saved tonight then you are alive tonight. You are not dead any longer. You are alive tonight. You may not act like you are alive. But if you are saved, you are alive spiritually. The Bible says not only did this young man set up and began to speak the Bible says they delivered him unto his mother. Could you imagine how she must have felt? I can t imagine losing a child. I really can t. I know some of you all have. I know you have. I can t imagine that. Just to think about that. I know you go through it. I know we have to go through it. I know the grace of God is sufficient. But it would have to be a horrible time. This lady thought her son was gone. However, she met the master. She met the one who has eternal life. She met the one that has life on the road to the graveyard. Do you know what He did? He just simply spoke the word. You and I, if we are saved tonight, we have met the master. We have met the giver of life on our road to the graveyard. We have life tonight, if you are saved. Luke 7:16 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. Luke 7:17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about. Isn t it great when God shows up? Isn t it great when we are hurting and our lives are filled with sorrow and we are heartbroken and we don t know which way to turn and what to do. when all hope is gone, isn t it wonderful when the Lord shows up and rescues us, and changes our whole life from a life of grief and sadness and being brokenhearted. We know that we don t ever forget about people we have lost. You who have lost children and family members. We don t forget about them. It is impossible if you loved them. Isn t it great that God gives us the ability and the grace and the health to go through life and deal with those things. This lady; they had a time. I will guarantee you it doesn t tell us here. But I m going to tell you what. I would say this lady was doing some shouting. I would say the people here were doing some shouting. The Bible says they were glorifying God. Do you know what that means? They were praising the God of heaven. I would say it would have been a wonderful time to be there.

10 I think sometimes, again, we miss on seeing the needs of others. Not only that but also when God does something for us and for other people; do you know what we should be doing? We should be praising Him for it. That is what they did. They glorified Him. If you are saved tonight, you have something to glorify God about. If you are saved tonight, have been redeemed tonight, you have something to praise God about. Amen! We should do it more often. We are getting lax about that around here praising God. We are not lax about asking. We don t ever slow up on asking God for what we need and to help us, but we get slack sometimes in thanking Him for what He does for us. We don t want to do that. We want to praise Him. Do you know why? We are going to need Him tonight. We are going to need Him tomorrow and if we forget about thanking then things may be a little different in our prayer life. Come and pray

I Say Unto Thee, Arise! Luke 7: 11-17

I Say Unto Thee, Arise! Luke 7: 11-17 The opening portion of this chapter bears a powerful testimony to the compassion and mercy of our Lord. It reveals His power over the most difficult of circumstances