Well, if you will, turn in your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7, we'll read verses 11 through 17, and that will be our text for this morning. This evening, it is my plan to look at the church in Ephesus from Revelation chapter 2. But this morning we'll consider the widow of Nain and this glorious miracle that the Lord performs for her. Luke chapter 7 beginning at verse 11. Now it happened the day after that he went into a city called Nain and many of his disciples went with him and a large crowd. 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. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, do not weep. Then he came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And he said, young man, I say to you, arise. So he who was dead sat up and began to speak, and he presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has risen up among us, and God has visited his people. And this report about him went throughout all Judea. and all the surrounding region. Let's pray again. Oh Lord, would you have mercy upon us and bless the reading and preaching of your word? Please guard the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts and have your way with us. Transform us to be more like your son through it. In whose name we pray, amen. Well, in our text this morning, we have the intersection of two worlds. One of those worlds is life on this earth, ruined by sin and the effects of the fall into sin, one in which the inhabitants feel sin's power, experience a life of toil, pain, and suffering, interfaced with the reality of death. And this is seen in the life of this widow from Nain. On the other hand, we find another world, and that is a world which is from heaven, represented by Christ, our Lord Jesus. It is a world full of grace, life, and joy given to those who were touched by none other than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And as we read this, we see that the scene was a funeral procession. It was for this young man whose mother was a widow. And they were headed outside of the city. because that's what they were to do according to the Old Testament. We find that in Numbers chapter 5 and Numbers chapter 11. And they were to bury their dead the same day that they died. And so there they were in this funeral procession outside the city gates. And no doubt, as was customary in their day, they had the professional musicians along with them and the professional wailers who were paid to cry and weep as they made that journey outside of the city so that this widow could bury her son that same day. And so as they are exiting the city, they meet the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who are with Him, His disciples, and a large crowd, as Luke tells us there in verse 11. And so as we think about this this morning, I want us to put into our minds, I want us to see the glorious compassion and power of our Savior, against the backdrop of the relentless and indiscriminating nature of sin. I want us to see the glorious compassion and power of our Savior against the backdrop of the relentless and indiscriminating nature of sin, because that's what we have here in our text. So first of all, just consider sin's relentless and indiscriminating nature. Sin, we are told in the Bible, came into the world In the words of the Apostle Paul in verse 12 of Romans 5, it says this, "'Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned.'" His point there is that sin entered the world through Adam. And because Adam represented the human race, the whole human race is under sin, guilty of committing sin. And we read about that in Genesis 3. So Adam and his wife Eve, remember they ate of the forbidden fruit and they fell. And all of their posterity with them, except for one individual alone, the Lord Jesus Christ, fell into sin with him. And so that's you and me. And so God pursues them. He didn't leave them in that estate. He pursues them, the God of the covenant. And yet He pronounces the curse of sin upon them, the earth and the serpent who deceive them. And so the result, the effects of the fall of mankind into sin includes our work. It's frustrating, it's toil, it's heavy labor. It affects our relationships. And, of course, our relationship with God Himself. We become estranged from God because of that. And so the Bible sums it up in Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus, in John 8, verse 34, goes so far to say that he who commits sin is a slave to sin. And the Apostle Paul elsewhere in Romans chapter 8 talks about the creation. Even the creation, he personifies creation and he says that it was subjected to futility and that the whole creation now groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. And so we are fallen and we live in a fallen world. And so we feel the effects of that fall into sin, whether we realize it or want to recognize it or not. And this is seen vividly in our text, in this one family, in this widow's family, this widow who is from Nain. Now Nain was seemingly an insignificant town some 20 or 25 miles away from Capernaum. And I mention that because in the passage before, we find that's where Jesus was, where He healed the centurion's servant. And so we're told in verse 11, now it happened after the day, the day after, that he went into a city called Nain. And so he would have gone by foot, all those with him, you know, his disciples were kind of like the snowball effect until they would, you know, hear his hard sayings and walk away from him. And so they were with him. They went to this little town of Nain. And so there's this funeral procession. Now, in our text, it says that the dead man was being carried out, that he was on a casket. And in reality, it wasn't like a closed casket like we think of today. It was more like a stretcher. It was open, and maybe they would have had some kind of sheet over him or something like that. They were carrying him out, and we're told there was a crowd with this widow who had lost her son, and as I mentioned earlier, possibly, if not probably, those who were paid to play instruments and wail along with them. And it only gets worse as we read this passage, right? We see how sad it is that a widow loses her son to death, but what we learn is even worse in our text. She's a widow. She had already experienced the loss, the death of her husband. And this puts her in a very dire situation because back then they didn't have government assistance, and that society was dependent upon her husband for her livelihood. She lost him, and so what that means is now her son would take over that responsibility. If you have read in 1 Timothy 5, The Apostle Paul addresses the church there and he says, this is how you are to treat widows. They must be qualified to meet, to be what it truly means to be a widow, but also let their families take care of them. And if they have no family to take care of them, then let the church take care of them. And so this woman who was a widow, her son would have taken over that responsibility. He would have been her support, her protector. But now he's dead. Somehow he died, we aren't told. But notice what it says in verse 12. This dead man was the only son of his mother, who was a widow. And not only that, when Jesus addresses him a little later in verse 15, he says, young man. So this widow, who had one son, who was a young son, lost him as well. Her situation is dire and sad, no doubt. And if you've lost a child, perhaps you've said this, if you know of someone who has lost a child to death, maybe you have heard this or seen this in interviews and that sort of thing. People say, we're not supposed to bury our children. Maybe some of you have lost a child. had a child to die. Many of us have had miscarriages. And so we talk, humanly speaking, about premature deaths. And again, he was her means of support financially. Death comes to all, and it is indiscriminate. It has no favorites. And we see that here in the life of this widow from Nain. And as we think about that, and we think about our lives here, who hasn't been affected by the weight of sin? Who hasn't seen or felt its relentless and indiscriminate nature? Again, a miscarriage, the loss of a child, a sickness, tragedy strikes, And we feel it. And maybe, maybe you've felt your own spiritual helplessness at times. I mean, after all, this dead son is really a picture of all of us. There we are, lifeless, spiritually. We come into this world as sinners, fallen, and as the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2, dead in our sins and trespasses, unable to respond to the things of God. And sometimes, even as Christians, we feel our own helplessness, as we should, and the Savior himself reminds us in John 15 and verse 5, without me, you can do nothing. And so sin and its effects have no favorites. It comes to all. It comes to the elites. It comes to the dregs. It comes to the Herods. It comes to even this poor, poor widow of Maine. But here comes Jesus. And even though I painted this picture, even though Luke has told the truth and recorded for us this dire situation, we are not without hope. And this lady, whether she realized it or not, was not without hope. And so we have then our Savior's compassion and power. First of all, we see His compassion. In verse 13, it says, when the Lord saw her, He had compassion. when he saw her. First of all, remember who this is. This is Jesus, and some say that Jesus was a great prophet. He was, but they stop there, that he was a historical figure, although some try to deny that. It's undeniable he was a historical figure, and we have the inspired scriptures here giving us the account. But this is Jesus. And Luke has already demonstrated how Jesus came. How He was born of the Virgin. How He is the promised Messiah. This is the God-Man. This is God come in the flesh. The second person of the Godhead. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He is the eternally begotten Son of the Father. He is the Word, John 1 says, who became flesh. and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And it says here, when the Lord, there's that word Lord, I think this is the second time, or maybe the first time that Luke has used this in his gospel, when Jesus, the Lord saw her, He had compassion. You know, sometimes people might think that God is out there or up there somewhere. And maybe he doesn't see what they're going through. Or maybe he just doesn't care. or that he is that proverbial ogre in the sky, just waiting to pounce, waiting to strike fire from heaven upon someone. But no, if you want to know what God is like, look to the Lord Jesus, because he is the second person of the Godhead, God in the flesh. And it says he saw her, and that when he saw her, he had compassion. God, we are told, yes, it is true. He will, because He is just, He will by no means clear the guilty. He is holy. But He is also, the Scripture tells us, merciful and gracious and slow to anger and abounding in goodness and truth. Jesus, brothers and sisters, sees your pain. He sees your trials. And here we are told, when he saw her, he had compassion. What is compassion in the New Testament and the word here? It has to do with the whole idea of your gut. When you see someone in distress and you have that feeling in your gut, your heart aches for that person. Someone put it this way, it is suffering with another. It is a painful sympathy, a sensation of sorrow, excited by the distress or misfortunes of another. God shows and has compassion. In Psalm 68, the prophet there speaks of God and how he viewed His people when they were in distress and under the tyranny of Pharaoh back in Egypt years and years and years before. And in Psalm 68 and verse 5, excuse me, Isaiah 63 and verse 9, it says this, in all their affliction, He was afflicted. Think about that. When God looked down from heaven, and saw His people, His covenant people, in distress, in great pain, agony, affliction, under the hand of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, it says, and all of their affliction, He was afflicted. And so our Savior here sees this poor widow being afflicted, and He is afflicted. And even more so, perhaps, because we are told in James 1.27, pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God and our Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. And so we have here this wonderful picture and manifestation of our Lord's compassion, His love, His mercy and care for this woman. And so notice what he does next. In verse 13, he approaches her and he says, Do not weep. Do not weep. Now, the Bible elsewhere And because the apostles were sent by Jesus, we could say elsewhere, Jesus says in 1 Thessalonians 4 or around there, we are to weep with those who weep. And Jesus himself wept in John 11 at the death of Lazarus. But he tells this woman, do not weep. I don't think Jesus here is being cruel. He's not saying, just suck it up and let's get on with this. Obviously, we've read the rest of the text. And I just remind you that weeping is natural when it comes to death, which is unnatural. The reason people die is because of the fall into sin. But we are to weep with those who weep. And when a loved one or a friend or even someone we may not even know experiences the loss of a loved one, we don't go to them and say, do not weep. We weep with them. And so Jesus here, he's telling her not to weep because of what he's about to do. In our passage, he's not being mean or harsh or anything like that. He's giving her hope. And so then, in verse 14, it says, then he came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. Why did he touch this stretcher which had upon it this dead son? I mean, after all, if we were to read Leviticus 21, if we were to read the Old Testament, we would see that the priest was to go nowhere near a corpse, a dead body, lest he defile himself. In fact, in Numbers 19, verse 11, he wasn't to touch the dead. But Jesus here comes as our great high priest. the one who would offer himself in our place, showing he is unafraid and willing to take our place, that he is the one who is undefiled. I think we have here a foreshadowing of what would happen at Calvary. What do I mean by that? Well, in the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5.21, It says, and he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through him. God the Father made Jesus sin. God the Father gave us the righteousness that Jesus had. In other words, the Father placed upon Jesus our guilt. And he gives to us Jesus's righteousness. Or in Galatians 3.13, it says, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And so we see our Savior's compassion. And he comes, he tells her not to weep, and then he touches this coffin or stretcher. Then we see his power here, his compassionate power, In verse 14, it says, they stood still, the ones who carried the son. And then Jesus said, young man, I say to you, arise. So he who is dead sat up and began to speak. Jesus simply speaks. He commands. And this dead man rises and speaks. You see, Jesus is no mere prophet here. Again, He's the God-man. And just as Jesus, who is instrumental in creation according to John chapter 1, through Him, there was nothing made that was made. He made all things and He spoke it by the word of His power. Just as Jesus did that at the first creation, so too does He do it at the new creation. He is speaking life into this dead man. And this happens, my friends, every time the gospel is preached and someone is made alive spiritually. Jesus, He commanded Lazarus to come out, come forth from his grave. There he was, dead, four days. Lazarus came forth. This is the sovereign, supernatural power of our Savior. In the words of Romans 4 and verse 17, Paul talks about Abraham in the Old Testament and how God gave Abraham promises, and how Abraham, as it were, contrary to hope, he believed. In Romans 4, 17, it says, as it was written, I have made you a father of many nations in the presence of him whom he believed, God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. We talk about creation being ex nihilo. God made all things from nothing. I don't understand it, but he did it. And he and his infinite wisdom and infinite power did it. And so does he do it as well when he calls forth spiritually dead people to come forth from the grave spiritually. And so did Jesus do it here when he called this dead man to rise. And so what does the dead man do? He sits up and he began to speak. This miracle was immediate. There was no physical therapy, no weeks in rehab or at the hospital. It was immediate. It was incontrovertible. Incontrovertible. Indisputable. There were crowds there. The disciples were there. And this man began to speak again. What does Jesus do there in verse 15? It says, and he presented him to his mother. Isn't that beautiful? That's the point. Jesus went to Nain because at Nain, just as was the case in Samaria in John chapter 4, Jesus had an appointment with a woman there, a divine, providential appointment. And it was to bring her dead son back to life so that he may go and serve her and protect her and provide for her again. Why? Because he had compassion. By the way, children and young people, we see our Savior's compassion here. And we also see that he would have this young man to honor his mother. If you want to please Jesus, honor your parents. And so Jesus presents this man back to his mother. And we have this reunion. And I think this is a foreshadow of the great reunion we will have at the last day. When we who are Christians will be united again with our loved ones who have gone to glory before us. Jesus will present them back to us. Why? Because He lives, He tells us, we will live also. He is the resurrection and the life. And then finally here in our text, we see the response of the people, that is their fear and praise to God. It says in verse 16, then fear came upon all. Why? Because they know something different. is in their midst, something special, the power of God, they can't deny it. And when anyone is in God's presence in the Bible, a fear overtakes them. Whether it's Isaiah in the Old Testament, John in the New Testament, Revelation, the disciples, you know, they say, Lord Jesus, when they know who he is on the lake, the God-man, they say, we need to get out of your presence, basically. for we are a sinful man, are sinful men. And so fear comes to them, but then they say a great prophet, verse 16, has risen up among us. Why would they say that? Well, if you read the Old Testament, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, you'll know about Elijah and his successor, Elisha, they both raised men from the dead too. Very similar to what Jesus does here and the similarities are striking. And so they conclude, well, surely a great prophet has risen up among us. And then they say God has visited his people. And by saying God has visited his people, they're echoing the language of the Old Testament. For instance, in Ezekiel, God made the promise that he would visit his people. He said in Ezekiel 37, my tabernacle also shall be with them. Indeed, I will be their God and they shall be my people. They prayed for God's blessing. They prayed for God to visit them as promised. And so it's a way of them saying, God has blessed us. Is Jesus a prophet? Yes. He is. He was. He is. He is our prophet, priest, and king. Had God visited them in this way? Yes. But did they get it? I don't think so. Not completely. And yet, it does say In verse 17, this report about him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region. And so the word spread because of this. There was a great prophet in town, and God had visited his people. What is the correct answer? Well, if you know Deuteronomy 18, you will know that God, through Moses, promised another prophet to come, the Messiah. And so Jesus is not just a prophet, he is the prophet. And it's not that God merely blessed them, but Emmanuel had come, God with us. You know, back in Matthew's gospel, Jesus and His disciples, they're on the way, they're walking. And in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus asked them a question. Matthew 16, verse 13, they came to Caesarea Philippi, and we are told he asked his disciples, saying, who do men say that I am? Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And so they said, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus affirms that answer. That's the correct answer. Jesus is the Christ. He is the Messiah. He is the promised one. He is the son of the living God. He is the God man. And so that's really what they should have said back in Luke chapter seven. But as we think about all of these things and we see here in this account. This widow of Nain and consider our savior's compassion and who he is. I've just got three questions for you. Is this the Jesus that you know? If someone were to ask you who is Jesus, what would you say? Well, He was a great prophet. He was a great teacher. Or would you say, no, He is the prophet. He is God manifest in the flesh. He is the one who is vindicated by His miracles. He is the one who is vindicated by His own resurrection. He is the Savior. He is the resurrection and the life. And if I put my faith and trust in Him, I too will have eternal life. Yes, He is the Teacher and the Prophet. And yes, we can have confidence in His Word. We believe in the surety of His Word because of that. Even the whole of Scripture because of His resurrection. But you must come to the point where you can say he is my Lord, my savior, my life. Without him, I'm dead. But all the promises of God are yes and amen in him. And then second, are you ready for the day at which time our Lord Jesus will say to all rise? What do I mean by that? Well, in John chapter 5, Jesus says there's coming a day, there's coming an hour, and now is, when the Son of Man will call up, when He will call all to the resurrection. Some will be resurrected unto life, others will be resurrected unto condemnation. And that's at the last day, at His second coming. That is inescapable. You might try to run from it. and do anything to escape it, but as soon as the Son of God returns the second time, Jesus Christ, when He comes back, there will be a general resurrection. And all will come from the grave, or as Paul says, if you're alive, you will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye. And we must know now if we are in Christ or not, if we put our faith in Him and trusted in Him. And if you're ready, if you are a Christian, a disciple and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, do you anticipate the reunion of the loved ones who have gone before you in heaven? We mourn for their loss now. We feel that pain, that void. Don't forget. You will see them again. They will be recognizable. I don't know what they will look like. I don't know much about the resurrected body. Paul talks about it in First Corinthians 15. But they recognize Jesus after his resurrection. Most of them. And so those who have, you know, my grandmother. My grandfather who I never met. I'll get to meet him. What a glorious thing. Why? Because God is God of compassion. He's the God of salvation. He's the God of the resurrection. And then last, if you know Jesus in this way, are you giving glory to him in the presence of others? If these people who didn't have it 100% right went about and spread the knowledge of Jesus in the surrounding regions, how much more should we who know who Jesus is spread the knowledge of Christ in our surrounding regions, right? You know, it doesn't mean you have to give a 30-minute gospel presentation every time someone asks a question. If you have that opportunity, great. Those might be for some of us, few and far between, but you know, at work a few weeks ago, the topic came up, I didn't raise it, we all have cubicles next to each other, and someone says to me, Kevin, do Christians still believe that some people go to hell and fire and brimstone and all that today? I was like, John 14, six. You know, you can speak a little bit of gospel truth into someone else's life. And so we should be about that business because Jesus uses the message, of course, the preached word, but he uses our testimonies to save others as well. And so as we close this morning, just remember that Jesus is the all-powerful, all-compassionate