Reveal your power. In the midst of the years, Lord, will you remember mercy. Don't we and our nation need to see the power of God? We need it. And we as God's people are the ones that's going to see it. We're the ones going to experience it. So may the Lord do that for us. You can be seated. And I'm so glad to have Brother Peter Gunther with us and Sister Dana. What a blessing to have them here. And we rejoice in them. They're such a treasure. And up in Canada, they've experienced even more persecution against the church than we have. Here in America, they've went through some really difficult times. The Lord has brought them through, and God has given wisdom to Brother Peter, and we're excited just to have him with us this week. He's speaking right now, coming to preach to us. And as I got out of the car, Sandra said, do you forget your Bible? I said, no, I've got some on my desk at church. I said, Dr. Adkins preaching first. I've got Bible for him. But I don't have any idea that Peter's going to preach out of the Bible. So I won't need one, you know. That's a good way to introduce it, isn't it? Amen. But if I had any idea he was going to preach out of the Bible, I'd have brought mine. But I know he is anyway. You come on, Brother Peter. We love you. Thank you for coming and being part of it, buddy. Amen. Hallelujah. All right. He's going to read his Bible. He's going to try something brand new he's never done before. Amen. Dr. Brad Davis is a dear, dear, dear friend to me, and I count it a privilege to be able to be here. I know I've missed the last few years, and I'm thankful that I'm able to be here this year. Dr. Atkinson is my pastor. I cannot believe, I cannot believe that the Lord would allow the opportunity and privilege for me to preach with my pastor. And to hear him preach this morning, I said to my wife, how do you follow that? And they both are going through some health, Miss Jane and Dr. Atkinson are going through some health difficulties, pray for them. And I believe that the Lord allows and gives and instigates and brings issues to people that He can trust. And I believe those are two-choice servants that He can trust. And so you pray for them. Dr. Atkinson turned to the book of Luke is what he said, and he made me nervous because that's where I'm going. But when he said 24, I felt, whew. If you go to Luke chapter 7 with me, I preached this a few weeks ago at our home church as I've been preaching through the book of Luke. And if you go to Luke chapter 7, and if you look with me in verse 11, we'll read down to verse 17. Verse 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. Now when he had 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 bear, and that bear him stood still. And he said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. He that was dead sat up and began to speak, delivered him to his mother. And there came 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, throughout all the region roundabout. Lord, thank you for this day. I pray that you would use this passage and that you would encourage our hearts here this morning. Thank you for the message already that was delivered through Dr. Atkinson. I pray that you'd be with our home church right now, and would you be with them as they're in service, and that you would also grant them an anointing from on high. I love you. Thank you, God, for saving me. In Jesus' name, amen. In the first part of this chapter, in the first 10 verses of chapter 7, we saw a faith that amazes the Almighty. A faith that amazes the Almighty. And there we saw in that, if you would go through it, you would see the dependency from the centurion, and then you would also see the disbursements that came from Christ. And while the elder of the Jews, they had felt that this centurion was worth or worthy to have his request be made, and this worth that they felt that this centurion had was due to his performance because he loved them and built them a synagogue. But yet when the centurion spoke, he felt unworthy, not due to performance, but rather because of position, he recognized the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the next portion we're looking at here, we see a faith that alarms the Almighty, or we could say a faithlessness that alarms the Almighty. And then in the next portion, which we won't look at, we see a faith that is assured by the Almighty. But here we'll be looking at this middle section here of faith or faithlessness that alarms and Bible times when someone died the family members would go outside and they would let out a death wail and all the neighbors could hear it and such cries were terrifying and gut-wrenching and leaving the stomach and knots and and sending cold chills through your body. And I'm sure this widowed mother did just like every other mother and the death wail went out. It would not have been her first time that she would have cried like this. Her cries would inform her friends and her neighbors that a death had occurred and mourners even were hired, and they would weep for the deceased, and these weepers and mourners were mainly women, and some of them would have even made a career of this. There were, in those days, professional mourners, as we saw in Amos 5.16. It says that they were skillful of lamentation to wailing. And so some of them were skillful in this. In some cases, tears would be gathered of those that wept. A Jewish priest would take a piece of cotton and collect the tears, and he would squeeze them into a bottle. In Psalm 56, verse 8, the Bible speaks of collecting the tears of the brokenhearted, and that he would put thou my tears into thy bottle. And all of these cries were a way of honoring a person after they had died. The procession then would march with the body in the place, or to the place of the burial. And this is where our story today begins. And during this funeral procession, and Jesus knowing that this lad would die, he would make a trip. If you go back, you don't have to read this, but in the first verse of the chapter, we see him in Capernaum. And now we're going down to Nain. And so we have roughly a 20 to 30 mile hike. Some estimate this to be about a 10 hour journey. And so he is journeying from Capernaum down to Nain. And so Jesus, knowing that he would die, he sets out on this journey. And I would say that he started his walk the day before, or maybe I could say very early in the morning on the day. And we see that in Luke chapter 7 and verse 11, as it came to pass the day after, He went into the city called Nain. And so somewhere he would have timed it and he went on this 10 hour journey. Then on the day of the funeral, Jesus arrives in the town of Nain, just as the funeral procession was coming through the city gates. And he arrived, had he arrived a couple of minutes earlier or a couple of minutes later, then he would have missed that collision, if I can call it that, at the city gates here. But he arrived exactly at the right time. And may I just say that even though that we see here this widow lady had lost her son and she is going through a funeral procession, that Jesus is never late. He's always on time. And although it looks like everything has come to an end, and although it looks like everything is sad and depressed, Jesus is on His way. He left ten hours prior to make sure that he would meet this lady right at the city gates. And so may I point out first of all this morning, the despondency of the complacent. The despondency here of the complacent. And before we look at the funeral procession, would you notice that there are two different crowds that are coming here or coming to a head at Nain. you'll see over in verse 11 i'm sure you noticed it that jesus is coming with his many of his disciples and then it says and much people and then at the end of verse 12 you see the funeral procession a widow with much people So we have two crowds that are coming to this funeral procession. And for the sake of alliteration, we may suggest that one crowd was following the Christ, while the other crowd was following the coffin. One crowd had just witnessed the Word's power over the disease and the dying, and while the other crowd had just witnessed the Word's, or will witness, the Word's power over death itself. And one crowd was delighted, while the other crowd was distressed. Those crowds were following for completely different reasons. One crowd was following because they had witnessed the conquering of death, and the other crowd followed because they saw the one who was being carried because of death. The first crowd was following because they saw the one that represented existence, while the second crowd was following because they saw the one that represented expiration. We have two crowds. We have the Christ. We have a coffin. And may I say we have a collision right outside the city gates. And so these crowds, they were headed for this collision at the city gates of name. And so I found it ironic, that the city of Nain is called or is meant by name or by definition beautiful. It's meant green pastures and it means lovely. And at the gate of the city, which means beautiful, we have the beastly sight of death. Instead of seeing things lush, we have loss. Instead of whistling and worship, we have weeping and wailing. Instead of lovely, we have lonely. At least this day, the sight that was seen with the eyes seemed to say something completely different than what the city meant. May I just interject this verse for our memory here? John chapter 10 in verse 10, the Bible says the thief cometh. but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. But in contrast to the thief, Jesus says, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. The reason that Christ came was not the same reason that the thief came. The thief had made his way over to Nate, but Christ is on his way. He had found his way over to Nain, and yet this mother and widow lady had lost not only her husband, but now she had lost her son. But Jesus is on the way. What are we doing in our lives, walking around, weeping and wailing when abundant life has been granted both to you and I? And may I say that if you're a Christian, Jesus has given you a new name. He's gave you life. He gave you life abundantly. And it would not do us any harm if we lived what Christ has given to us. And yet we can walk and follow the coffin through life instead of following the Christ. Which crowd are you in at this collision course that we see coming? You may have lost. Maybe you have lost what or whom you have loved. You may even right now be grieving or be in a grieving period. And may I also suggest something else here at this point. The Lord knows, and I want to stress this, the Lord knows exactly how to create a collision course for you and for me. Which brings me not only to the despondency, notice the direction that comes from Christ. Remember how we talked about the timing of the Lord? Well, here we see the importance of His timing again. Jesus saw the woman who lived in town, which stood for beautiful and lovely, but she was passing Jesus by. There's a collision coming. We have the crowds, much people, much people. We have a coffin, we have Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. They're coming together and meeting at the city gates. And here she is in a very distressed type of a situation. I mean, the town stood for beautiful and lovely, but yet she herself was dire. She's defeated and depressed and despondent and disappointed, dejected and despaired, and distressed and downcast. Everything opposite as to what the city stood for. The Lord had this collision planned because He knew. She needed some one-on-one time with Jesus. And God creates a collision course for you. He knows exactly what is needed. And you think in your life it's over and it's done? I mean, why would you not? The sun is no longer breathing. The death wail has gone out. The mourners and the grievers are there. He's on the open sided coffin is what the bear actually is, just a plank, a coffin with the sides knocked off. And they're walking down the street. And how would you think anything else other than this is a sad day? But if you're not careful, the only thing you look at is how sad the present situation is, that you can walk right by Jesus, and you can walk right by life, the very one who represents life, and the only thing we see is death. If we're not careful. She had lost the love of her life. She was about to bury the second love her life There are times in the genius and the genius timing of God That he knows exactly when to approach you He lets the boy die He lets mom ball rise out He allows the death cry. He allows the boy to be put on a coffin. He allows the funeral procession to take place. And then a collision between death and life happened at the city gates. She had lost her husband. I can only imagine. And maybe you're here today and you can sympathize with losing a loved one. We just saw that Dr. Rayton Puckett went home to heaven. He's having Jubilee time. I mean, he's having a far greater time. And we can sympathize maybe in the loss of a loved one, whether by death or divorce, they're gone. And you're grieving and you're hurting and you hardly know which way to turn. And you think there's no more help. There's no way that you're going to be able to get out of this situation. I mean, the boy is on the coffin. The only thing left is to put the boy in the ground. Maybe your love has you so focused on its death that when life is standing in your way, as you go to bury your son, that not even the presence of life cheers you up. But the Lord saw her in verse 13. Oh, I like that. Think of that and when the Lord saw her And almost in my mind, I don't want to mess up what the scriptures saying but it almost seems to me he was looking for her And when he saw her There she is. She's coming There she is she's coming and when he saw her Oh, he had compassion on her. I mean, if you remember over in John chapter 11 where Jesus had wept with Mary and Martha, and while many think that he was weeping over Lazarus, it's my personal belief that he was weeping because of their unbelief. Their unbelief. He had just said, I am the resurrection in John chapter 11. And they returned and said, well, had you been here? While many thought he was weeping he wasn't he was not over them or over Lazarus But over their unbelief and I and I think of this situation here in Luke chapter 7 we just saw in the previous verses we see that the centurion can trust a God he says hey I if I wasn't even found worthy to come talk to you, but I know that you're a man of authority you speak the word and it's done and And then we see the church, and we see the Christians, the ones who are very supposed to be trusting God, who proclaim that they trust God, who claim they have the Spirit of God residing inside of us, and we have a hard time going through something, and not even the presence of God can cheer us up. But a centurion, a Roman, is not... I can trust him. If he can trust him, Can I trust them? Can you trust them? Here in our text we see Jesus had compassion on her. No doubt he could see her grief. No doubt he felt for her in her loss. But could there be more? Could there be another reason he had compassion on her? Remember that name meant beautiful, green pastures and lovely. And this lady was just not living up to that name. I wonder if there is a Christian here that is just not living up to the name. And we say we are Christians, meaning Christ like. And we're not living up to the name. and then God creates a collision. So that we'll walk away from there living up to the name. Look at the words that Jesus says to this lady. Now these words are in the imperative and kind of one of those head scratchers for me at first. He just says this, weep not. Can I say it the way we would say it today in our economy? He probably said something. If we were to say it today, stop your crying. It's a direct statement. He's telling her stop weeping, stop your crying. Well, that seems weird. She's in the middle of just about to bury her son and a man steps in and he says, stop your crying. How much of our weeping is because of something that has happened in our past? Still with me? The difference is that Jesus was speaking with her future in mind. And she was weeping with her past in mind. What's all the weeping about? All of us, maybe not all of us, but many times when we're weeping, we're looking at the past, we're looking at the past, we're looking at our failures and looking at our failures. And if you continuously look at your failure, you start calling yourself a failure. And may I just suggest this, that failure does not define who you are. Failure is an event in your life. Who's ever failed the test? Okay. Anybody ever failed a test? That's an event. It does not describe or doesn't identify who you are in Christ. You are complete in Him. Your failure is just simply an event that comes and goes. So you had a failure. It's just an event. And here we are looking at the past, weeping and weeping and weeping. You cannot drive your car looking at your rearview mirror Jesus says to her weep not because he's got her future in his mind She's weeping because she has her past in her mind Could it be that Jesus knew abundant life and joy Was in her present future But she was spending her time weeping. Ephesians 4 verse 30, Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption. I wonder how much we grieve the Holy Spirit by our moping about our losses, our weeping about our failures, when Jesus has already given abundant life. That's what He's given to us. Who here believes the Bible when it says we are more than conquerors? Does the Bible say that? We are more than conquerors. Does the Bible say, one of my favorite verses, 2 Corinthians 14, where the Bible says that He always causes us to triumph in Christ. Do you believe the word always? He always causes us to triumph in Christ. That means we cannot lose. What part of that do we struggle with? Part of that is so hard for us to overcome What part of that of us being? Overcomers and more than conquerors I can do all things through Christ and we struggle and we weep and we mope we're following the coffin instead of Christ Notice verse 14 He came and he touched the bear I like that. With one finger, he could seize the victory of death. Here comes the coffin. He just goes over. And death is arrested. Man. Aren't you begging God to touch your bear? the situation that you found yourself in, the coffin you're following, that you think is leading poor me, my life is over, it has come to an end, and nobody loves me, and nobody cares for me, and there's nobody around that I can trust, there's not a church I can find, and on and on and on we complain, and we complain, and Jesus comes by in this current situation, and He just touches the coffin, He just touched the cop. He didn't even touch the boy. He spoke to him, but he touched the coffin and he Stopped the procession What took God he touched your coffin today and you'd get off this sorry trip When Jesus touches the situation that you're in and he has it come to a stop You know why he does that He's got something to say. He's got something to say. He stopped the procession because he had something to say. You know what he said? Arise. Could I encourage you today? Arise. It's not really deep. It's not so far that you can't understand or grasp. It's just get off your coffin. Arise. And when God comes by and he reaches out his hand and he stops your procession that you think is the end of your life, no more use for me, Brother Josh. And he just touches it. Here's the collision. Death and life had run into each other. And with one touch, death had to stop its victory lap. With one touch, death no longer could run its victory lap. They were on their way, and God stopped it. The thief came to steal and to kill and destroy, and Jesus came to give life and to give life more abundantly. This lady is weeping. The thief has won. Death is taking the victory lap, but Christ steps in. And with the lift of the finger, death is completely arrested. You remember Numbers 19, where the touching of the contaminated, such as death or anything attached to it, required a seven-day cleansing? Could I say death is no match for life? Could I say that Jesus will not and was not corrupted by death? And He could touch that coffin and not an ounce of corruption, not an ounce of corruption would be transferred to Him. You think that your problem is so big that it might even hurt God to solve it? Not an ounce of corruption. Death is no match for life Jesus was not and will not be corrupted the direction of Christ was ma'am Would you please stop your crying? Looks over to the boy and he says in verse 14 arise That's the reason that he told her to stop crying I She would have walked right past him. She's gonna go bury her boy. Jesus stopped it. He's got something to say to you. He's just gonna stop it because if you leave yourself to yourself, you'll destroy yourself. So he just stopped it. Said to the boy, arise. Here you go, mom. Here you go, mom. That's what God can do in your situation. That's what God. And you think it's all over? Could I just say you're following the wrong letter C. You got the coffin in your sights instead of Christ in your sights. Oh, she needed room for some laughing and joy, and it was about to overwhelm her. I mean, the dead, as John 5, 25 says, the dead shall hear His voice and live. And though He were dead, it was the hearing that brought life. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. This man experienced physically what we've experienced spiritually. Could I share? Couple of verses with you that mean the world to me It's a passage we were talking about last night a passage that the Lord used in my heart to really heal me 1st Samuel chapter 15 if you would just turn with me there just for a moment 1st Samuel 15 And what we see here is Samuel Saul Saul here had already messed up. We know the story and Verse 11 notice what it says for Samuel 15 11 it repented me that I have set up set up Saul to be king For he turned back from following me and he hath not performed my commandments notice this part and it grieved Samuel and He cried unto the Lord all night you get the picture Saul messed up and Samuel's weeping it hurt him and Maybe it was because he finally saw all 12 tribes underneath one roof. I'm not sure what it all was, but he definitely was mourning over this. If you look at the last verse, verse 35 of the same chapter, and Samuel came no more to see Saul. That's a heartbreaking part of the verse there, but we won't touch that right now. Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Notice this, nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul. Over here. He's weeping all night over here. He's mourning still Chapter 16 verse 1 and the Lord said unto Samuel how long wilt thou mourn for Saul? Seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel fill thine horn with oil and gold I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite notice this for I have provided me a king among his sons and You know what God's telling Samuel here? You're crying all night long. You're mourning. You're in a state of mourning and grief. How long are you going to stay in that state of mourning and grief? I have a David in store. I have a David prepared. And as long as you weep for your Saul, you never find your David. And you've got to come to the point where you stop the mourning and the grieving. Life is standing right there at the city gates. A collision has come between death and life. And yet we choose to follow the coffin far too many times instead of the Christ. And we spend our lives, waste our lives, weeping and crying. And God says, how long are you going to mourn? I got a David for you. But you don't find your David till you quit mourning for your soul. And here she is. This lady, she lost her husband. She lost her boy. She's weeping. But life is standing. Two crowds. One follows a coffin. One follows Christ. Life and death have a collision right at the city gates. You know what it keeps going verse 16 of Luke 7. He's glorified. Isn't that something? Man, he's glorified through all of this. He's glorified. The Lord's glorified in all of this. The Lord is glorified when you Romans chapter 6 tells us that the old man is dead. Does your Bible say that? They say the old man's dead Does Galatians 2 20 tell you that I am crucified with Christ? Wouldn't it be something if we lived it? Believe by faith the word of God is true. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I. Perfect. Yet not I. You know where our biggest pastor I'm struggling statements come from? But pastor, I try so hard You do. You try so hard, you become extremely trying. All in your own effort. Yet not I, but Christ. And the life that I now live by the flesh, I live by the what? Faith of. You know why that's important? Some versions will tell you faith in. I believe it's proper in the faith of because it's yet not I but Christ. So I don't live by the faith in. I live by the faith of the one who's living through me. How can you lose? How in the world can you lose in this? That's why he says that he always causes us to triumph in Christ. We are on the victory side, church. Man, we do not tuck tail and run. I don't care what the government says. Man, we're not going to hold on to the us for no more mentality. I don't care what the rest of the churches say. We've got ourselves a Bible. We have the Holy Spirit of God residing within us, who's leading us, who's guiding us, who's teaching us. He's bringing us into all truth. And the truth shall make you free. Let's live it. Instead of just walking down following a coffin. If you're following a coffin today, could I encourage you, switch the crowd you're running in. Amen. God bless.