Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Sermon Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today.

Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. What are you talking about? You probably did not even know that that name, Nain, was in the Bible. Some of you didn't. We have just a few short verses of a very interesting story in God's Word. And I don't know about you, I don't enjoy funerals. Funerals are a sad thing.

In a sense, they're a happy time when you know the Lord. But it's still a sad time for family, it just is. And it's encouraging to know and be able to praise the Lord and He's given us, He said, you know, God's made it possible that we don't have to sorrow, the Bible says, as those that have no hope.

We have the hope in Christ when we're saved. But it's still a sad occasion, it's a sad time, it's a difficult time for family. But if you're like me, brother Joe has often said this, that it always does me good when I sit in a funeral. It's not necessarily something that you enjoy because it's kind of a sad occasion, but when you sit at a funeral and you hear people talk about individuals and the life that they lived, it reminds you that life is short. And it reminds you that that could happen to you and it reminds you that it might be this time next week and I'll be in a casket, my body will be in a casket up there at the front of a church or whatever the case might be.

So funerals sometimes are good for us to be at, you can always learn something, it's a reminder about life, it's a reminder to make sure that priorities are where they need to be. But this particular funeral in verse 11 through 17 in Luke chapter 7, we have a whole bunch to gain from this little story. And yes, this was a funeral that was going on right here and Jesus ruined it. Don't you love it when Jesus ruins a funeral?

Boy, I love it. Look if you would at verse 11. And it came to pass the day after that he went into a city called Nain. Now he obviously being Jesus. And many of his disciples went with him and much people. 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. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her. Isn't that just like Jesus? And said unto her, weep not. What do you mean weep not?

Man, I'm a widow, my only son's died. Look at verse 14, and he came and touched the bear, or obviously the body is what we're talking about here, of this young man. And they that bear him stood still and he said, young men, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat up.

Now that's one thing right there. Now, just so you understand, and brother David Ridge obviously here this morning works for Hayworth Miller Funeral Home and different things. And understand what I'm saying, for a dead body to sit up wasn't necessarily a unique thing. That has happened quite a bit. Nowadays is why we do an embalming process that keeps that from happening. There are times in the past when a person would die and obviously years and years ago, sometimes obviously in Bible times a person would die and they would lay them in a burial thing or whatever the case might be. We would call it a casket and different things, and there would be times all of a sudden that body just sit up.

And that's just a natural response from the chemicals in our body and different things. So sitting up is a miracle, but that's not necessarily something that nobody had ever seen. But notice this. By the way, aren't you glad that they embalm bodies now? Let me tell you something, if I had been at my mom's funeral, my mom would have sat up, I would have had a cow. I'm like, I knew she was spiritual, that proves it. Look at that.

And I'd be like, oh, aren't you glad they go through that process now? Here it is, this young man sits up, but notice this, verse 14, verse 15, excuse me. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. Now that's different. Notice this, and he delivered him to his mother. Now what does that mean?

And I'm just covering a couple of these things before we dig into the meat of the message. What does it mean he delivered him? I don't know if he just kind of walked with that young man to his mother. I don't know if he carried him.

I don't know. But I know this, he delivered that young man to that mother. Who literally thought she was looking at an eternity, a future, without her son. And he brings that son right to her.

Let me say this, and I don't want to try to dare come out of context, but there are some parents here this morning. You need God to deliver your children back to you. They might not be dead physically.

But they're somewhat dead spiritually. I'm here to tell you, he can. He can deliver them back. Now they've got to do their part.

And they've got to be willing, and they've got to submit. But I'm going to tell you something, you just keep praying for those children. Because he is the great deliverer. Why don't you notice, if you would, in verse 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. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the region round about.

Something to gain from a funeral at Nain. Lord, we love you. God, we need your help today.

Folks have come here this morning wanting a word not from Daniel Hotry. But Lord, they need a word from you. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us as we look at this. And Lord, there are needs all across the building. And Lord, I pray as we try to rightfully divide your word, may it not only be a blessing and a comfort, but may it bring conviction as your word always does. In Jesus' name, Amen. Nain was a tiny, almost what we would call a word you would be familiar with, is almost a little hamlet.

It was literally a city that had a gate around it, and you would go through this little gate, and you would come into this very small little area. And I want us to look at this story today, and watch as Jesus did something impossible. And he continued to do what people considered impossible things. And it is a reminder that Jesus can do impossible things for you today. You know why? Because with man, things are impossible. But the Bible says with God, all things are possible. Number one, I want you to see as we look at this story, you know how I like to always look at things?

Let's understand the whole thing. Number one, it was a time of death. A time of death. When Jesus came to Nain that day, now you gotta understand the scene. He did not arrive at a joyous time. He arrived during a time of great sorrow and mourning.

The name Nain literally means beauty. But there was no beauty there that day when he arrived. And as he arrived, there was literally a funeral procession going on. Now we are told in verse 14 that this was a young man. We do not know his age, but we do know that he was young.

We are also told that he was the only son of his mother. And we were told that he was dead. And that there were a great crowd of mourners that were making their way through the gates of that city.

Now you gotta understand the picture. They were in the little town of Nain and they were going out of the city. There was obviously all these people, these mourners. And they were going out of the gates of the city to the burial area. Or to the little, obviously, graveyard, whatever area right outside of town that they had. And as they were coming out of the city, Jesus and his disciples and followers were coming towards the city.

And so they both meet at the gate of the city. Now, so we understand what funerals were like in that day, as was the custom. The people of this city had stopped what they were doing and they had literally joined the funeral procession that day.

Now, let me give you the chain of events. The mother would have been in the front. And she would have been followed by those who carried an open coffin in those days. And that coffin would contain the body of her son. So here the mother would be in the front and then the men are what we would call pallbearers nowadays. And obviously you see here in the Bible that he touched the bear, the B-E-I-R, which is kind of where eventually we got our name pallbearers.

And that's what we talk about. And so here is the mother out in front, the men carrying the open casket, the body of her son was in that casket. Now, behind them would have been those who were mourning the boy's death.

Any extended family that she would have or close friends or different things. These people would have been crying and they would have been mourning and obviously they would have been very upset. Not only that, but as they were walking there would have been friends, relatives in that group. And then others as that funeral procession walked by, there would be people literally working their job, maybe a blacksmith doing some things, maybe those selling goods and food or fruit or vegetables or different things.

That in a little hamlet like that, as that funeral procession would go by through the city, that folks would literally stop what they were doing and they would join behind the end of that procession to go and bury this young man as a sign of respect. Now, you say, preacher, what is the point that you're actually trying to make about that besides us understanding what was going on that day? Do you know that ever since Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, death has been part of life? Now, it's very interesting because I want to read you this verse.

If you want to turn to it, you can. But let me tell you where it all started. Genesis 2, verse 17. As God was giving directions to Adam and Eve, he said this in verse 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. In that day, God told Adam that this was forbidden. You can have all of the Garden of Eden, all of the trees, all of the fruit, all of the vegetables, everything that was there.

It is yours to have. But do not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was there, obviously, in the Garden of Eden, and God said just don't eat that. God never said you couldn't touch it. He just said don't eat it. And when Adam and Eve sinned, death came.

Now, let me ask you this. God said when you eat of that fruit, you shall surely die. Did Adam and Eve die when they ate that fruit?

No. Do you know that Adam lived a couple hundred more years after that? So was God lying? See, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sin came into this world, death began. That's where the dying process began.

That's where it all started. And I'm here to tell you, dear friend, this is a reminder, and I want you to understand today that you and I are dying. We are on our way to a grave at some point. Now, I don't know if it's today. I don't know if it's tomorrow.

I hope it's not either. But I'm here to tell you, if we live a long life, the days are going to come that these old bodies will give out because of sin, and we will someday face death because of sin, because the man that sinneth, the Bible says, shall surely die. And sin is always a killer. And all the way back where the first human beings that were ever created, when they sinned, death began. And now death is part of everyday life, and I want to remind you while you're enjoying your life today that death is coming.

You say, well, thank you for the encouragement, preacher. Dear friend, it is a reminder when you come to the house of God that the Bible says, hey, you can't even literally boast of tomorrow because you don't know what a day may bring forth. It's a reminder, dear friend, that you and I are all going to face death, and so we must make preparation for that day. It was a time of death. What a picture here of a lost man or a lost woman.

Listen to me. You see, there are things that are worse than physical death. Adam and Eve, not only did they die or began that process of death, but they died spiritually that day. Do you understand that Adam and Eve, as they died that day because of sin and that dying decay process began in their life, there was also another thing that took place.

They died spiritually that day. And from that point on, every person that's ever been born literally was born in sin, the Bible says, and we are all born on our way to hell. You say, I don't agree with that preacher. You don't have to agree with it to be true. I can say, I don't think Abraham Lincoln ever lived.

It doesn't change the fact that he did. And, dear friend, when you and I are born, that's why you don't have to teach a baby how to lie. You don't have to teach them how to cry. You don't have to teach them how to be spoiled. That just comes naturally. Because we, except grandchildren, they're perfect. But other than that, you know why?

You know why? Because we are born now with a sinful nature. Listen to me, the Bible tells us in Romans 6 23, the wages of sin is death. And I wanna remind you, dear friend, that you will see death, and if you've never been saved, you not only one day will see physical death, but you will experience spiritual death. And physical death is nothing compared to spiritual death.

A time of death. What is interesting here is that physically, a lost person is alive and well. You know, you could be here this morning, if you've never been saved, you're breathing, and your hands move, and your eyes move, and maybe your body moves, and you are literally physically alive, and you can see, and you can hear, and you can think, and you can move, and you can speak, and you can go about your lives. But if you are dead spiritually, you cannot see, or hear, or feel God, and spiritual things are literally dead to you, and God is dead to you, and His word, and His moving, and His working are foreign to you, and literally oftentimes unsaved people, they're unmoved by the cross, and they're unmoved by God's word. It's not because that they're physically dead, it's because they're spiritually dead. And I'm here to say that you can be physically alive and spiritually dead. Dear friend, do you know that you're saved? This goes way beyond pride.

This goes way beyond, well, folks might look at me, and what would people say? Dear friend, if I was facing an eternity in hell for the rest of my life, I would not give a flip what people say. I want you to notice, number two, not only was it a time of death, but number two, it was a time of desperation. Now, a time of death pictures this young man laying there in that open casket, but let me show you, as we look at his mother, this was a time of desperation.

You say, why? Well, the Bible says that this young man that was being carried out in this open casket was the only son of his mother, and it also says that she was a widow in verse 12. That means this, that not only had this woman already lost her husband, that now she had lost her only son, and we believe through the passage of this scripture that this was her only child also.

Now, you say, well, that's a very hard thing to understand. Well, now, her precious son had been taken by death, and now this poor woman had lost a husband and had lost her son, and let me tell you about these days. They didn't have welfare, and they didn't have assistance, and they didn't have social security, and they didn't have any kind of a care process that went on for their elderly. In those days, if you were gonna be taken care of, it was either gonna be done by your husband or it was gonna be done by your children. They were your future. That's why in those days you had a bunch of them. The more children you had, the more security you had.

I know some people nowadays have a lot of security. You ever seen that show 19 Kids and Counting? Good Lord.

I think I'd rather have an unsecure future than 19 Kids Defeat. Oh, my goodness. I heard the other day that some friends of ours that met them, went to their house, talked with them, and all that stuff said that they spend $4,300 a month on groceries. That's more than a full-time job to pay for that.

What in the world? Thank God for television and TV contracts. How else would you feed 19 kids? So in these days, were this woman to lose her son and to have lost her husband, it meant that she was desperate. She had nobody to take care of her. She had no future. She had no way to make ends meet. She had no way to pay bills. She had no way to provide for herself. She had literally by losing her only son and losing her husband, she had nothing left to take care of her.

She was alone. She was helpless. She was caught in a desperate condition. She had nothing to look forward to but poverty and despair.

She was literally now at the mercy of other people's kindness. She had nowhere to go and nowhere to run. Have you ever been desperate? You know, just as this is the picture of that mother, do you know this is also a picture of a lost person this morning?

You might not realize it, but you are in a desperate condition. You have no future without Christ. You have nowhere to run, nowhere to go. You say, well, I got a home I'm gonna go back to.

Well, you enjoy it. The Bible says that our life is just but a vapor. That means that you're gonna live here on earth for a few years, but you're gonna spend an eternity in either heaven or hell. And dear friend, if you're lost, you don't have much future. I'm gonna be honest with you. In fact, you don't have any future. You have nothing but pain and suffering in your future. I'm just being honest with you.

You say, preacher, that's awfully mean and hard to say on a Sunday morning. Well, dear friend, do you want me to tell you the truth? I'm gonna tell you the truth. If you sit there at a doctor, do you want a doctor to look at you and say, hey, let me tell you something. I looked at the results.

Everything's fine. In your eat up with cancer, I'd wanna know. But if you're like me and I've done this before, I look at the doctor and I say, doctor, I want you to shoot straight with me.

I watched my mom as we went to doctors and they made last ditch efforts and I've watched my mom sit there and she said, no, doc, I want you to tell me like it is. Be honest with me. I can take it. And dear friend, I'm here to tell you the truth this morning. You are in a time of desperation whether you look like it or not. If you are not saved this morning, you have nothing to look forward to but a life of bondage to sin here on earth. And then after you die, you have nothing to look forward to but an eternity in hell. So you've got nothing to look forward to here on earth and you've got nothing to look forward to in your eternity. I'm here to tell you as honest as I can and I love you, you don't have much to look forward to if you don't know Christ. A time of desperation. Many verses I could give you for that but for sake of time this morning.

Number three, I want you to see this and I was excited about this. This was a time of destiny. A time of destiny. Thank God the story does not end with a dead son and a desperate mother. There is another chapter to the story. Wouldn't it be horrible if things just stopped after verse 12?

Wouldn't that be bad? What if here's a mother lost, she's a widow, lost her only son and here comes Jesus and his followers towards the gate and here's this whole funeral procession going out the gate and wouldn't it be sad if Jesus and his followers just kept walking on by and they just kept walking on through? But how many times does that happen on a Sunday morning and on a Sunday night? Jesus shows up and here you are faced with Christ and people walk right on by when the answer is right in front of them. This was a time of destiny.

You say preacher, what do you mean? What I find interesting here is the first group that we're told about in this story, they were weeping over the death of a young man. The second group we were told about was rejoicing over the power of Jesus. You see what happened in the first part of chapter seven is that Jesus had demonstrated healing of a centurion's servant and that took place in verses one through 10 and all these people had just watched Jesus heal and they had just watched him work a miracle and here's Jesus and his disciples and then these followers that believed were following Jesus to the next town and here they were happy and rejoicing watching what Jesus had done and here's the other group coming out of the city that were sad and mourning having no hope and no future. What a picture of a lost person when they come into contact with Christ. You've got nothing to look forward to but with Christ you have everything to look forward to. I see this was a time of destiny.

This morning you say preacher why is that? Well the first group was led by a sobbing mother. The second group was led by a sovereign master. So what do you mean destiny? Well I find a couple things here.

Now listen you've got to listen to this. First I see that that day two groups met. Now one group was headed to a cemetery and the other group was headed to a city. See that one group was headed to a cemetery to bury a dead child but the other group because they had put faith and trust in Christ were headed to a city where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt nor thieves cannot break through and steal. I'm here to tell you if you know Christ is your savior you are headed to a city and it's called heaven. Here's two groups vastly different and they meet right here.

I also notice this. Not only did two groups meet that day but two sons met that day. You say what do you mean preacher? Well the first was the son of a man and he was dead in that casket. The second was the son of God and he had the answer to life everlasting. Not only did two groups meet that day and not only did two sons meet that day but I notice thirdly that two sufferers met that day. You see one was a mother that was broken hearted. She was a widow. Also she was a mother that had lost her only son and possibly her only child and that was a person who was suffering but little did she know that day as she met Jesus coming the other way that He had come here to earth to suffer and to die for our sins so that we could have salvation. That woman was suffering listen to me that woman was suffering that day but she didn't come close to suffering like our savior suffered. He suffered more than anybody's ever suffered. Why?

For you and for me. It was a time of destiny. Not only that I find this that two enemies met that day.

You say what was that? Well there was the enemy of death and the enemy of life. You see death and life have always been against each other. Obviously here Jesus and God He is the Lord He is the life the Bible says and here is old Satan who brought death upon us through temptation and all the things that Adam and Eve did and old Satan represents death and obviously Christ represents life and those two things met that day. Here's death laying there in a casket and here's life and Jesus himself walking through those gates and we're getting ready to find out who's gonna win this battle. Is death gonna prevail or is life gonna prevail?

And dear friend I'm here to tell you life always prevails. I want you to notice fourthly it was a time of deliverance. Look if you would at these interesting verses and we'll let you go in just a few minutes this morning. Look at verse 12 if you would. Now when he came nigh to the gates 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 and he came and touched the bear and they that bear him stood still and he said young man I say unto thee arise. What I find is this was a time of deliverance number one I want you to see that the sovereign Lord spoke to a suffering lady. You know what the Bible says if you'll, now notice this if you will look at verse 13 and when the Lord saw her it didn't say that he had even seen the casket yet or that he had even acknowledged that dead young man yet.

Now I don't know about you if I'm coming up and here's a funeral and there's an open casket that's the first thing my view's gonna go to. But Jesus looked right by that and you know who he saw? He saw the mother that was suffering. And the Bible says he had compassion on her. Isn't that just like our savior?

The Bible says that he is a high priest that is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He looked right into that woman and he knew what she was feeling. He knew that she was a widow. He knew she had lost her only son. He knew she was hurting. He knew that she was weeping. He knew how desperate she was. And dear friend he knows how you feel today. He spoke first to a suffering lady.

He had compassion on her. Dear friend you might be here this morning and you say preacher you don't know what's going on in my life. You don't know how I'm hurting. You don't know what's going on in my family. You don't know what's going on in my marriage. You don't know what's going on at work.

You don't know what's going on with my extended family. You don't even know what's going on in my own life, my own mind, my own shortcomings. Preacher you don't know anything that's going on and dear friend you're absolutely right I might not know but I am here to tell you that I don't care what you're going through. Jesus Christ has compassion on you today. He knows how you feel. He has been touched with the spectrum of our emotions. He knows how you feel. I might not know how you feel.

There might be other people here that don't know how you feel. But I will tell you this Jesus knows how you feel. He spoke first to that compassionate. He gave compassion to that suffering lady but notice second the sovereign Lord spoke to a slain lad. Not just a suffering lady but then he looks over to this open casket to that young man laying there and he simply says young man I say unto thee arise. And that is all it took. Now like I said for him to say young man arise and for that body to kind of sit up in that open casket it wouldn't have been a shock and it wouldn't have been something that everybody would have said oh my goodness he's alive. He's done that before. But when that young man began to speak everybody there knew something was different. In fact the Bible says a little bit later on if you'll notice this in verse 16 and there came a fear on all and they glorified God saying. Let me tell you something interesting about the New Testament Jesus spoke in His earthly ministry and one thing He said is that He came to bring glory to the Father. . .