As I said, Matthew is still on vacation and we have the privilege this morning of listening to or hearing to Seth Enderby as he comes and brings us God's word. So let's jump into Luke 7:11. Here's what it says. It says, soon afterward, he being Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out. The only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and he said to her, 'Do not weep.' Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, 'Young man, I say to you, 'Arise!' And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, 'A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people.' And this report about him, this report about Jesus, spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Before we go any further, let's pray. Lord Jesus, this morning we come to you, God, in need of being filled. God, we are weak. God, we are so easily distracted. God, we're surrounded by commotion. God, we're surrounded by the busyness of life. So God, I pray that right now you would come and open up our ears. God, open up our hearts. And God, would you please come and feed us now with your word? Feed us with the power of your gospel. Teach us, Lord. We ask you, we cry out for you, for your Holy Spirit to come and teach us, to feed us, to renew us, to restore us this morning. In Jesus' name. Amen.
So we see here as this scene unfolds in Luke 7:11, it's important to note the context of what's going on here. So just days before Jesus enters this little town of Nain, we see Jesus coming into the city gates of Nain. Just days before this has happened, he's healed a well-respected, just kind of this high-profile centurion servant So there's already a stir. There's a buzz in the air, a buzz in the atmosphere surrounding the person of Jesus. And Jesus is starting to gain notoriety. Jesus is starting to gain popularity amongst the people. And you can see it here. You can see in the text, it says that crowds begin gathering around him. Crowds are starting to see Jesus, see what he's doing. They've heard about this miracle and they're starting to follow Jesus. From village to village.
As the crowd following Jesus enters the town of Nain, they're met by another crowd. So you have these two crowds approaching one another, but the crowd that Jesus is approached with, it's a very different crowd than the crowd following him. It's a funeral procession. And as the two crowds meet, there in the middle of the hustle and bustle of activity, there in the midst of the commotion, there's Jesus in the midst of all, in the midst of everything. And he's confronted with a dilemma. He's confronted with a, with a difficult situation. He's confronted with brokenness, which when I read this, that's my hope and prayer this morning, that, that this is something we can all relate to.
In some form or manner. Because how many times— just think about this, just stop and think about this— how many times just this last week alone, in the busyness of life, in the midst of your plans, in the midst of the commotion, in the midst of all the things going on, were you met with— were you— you were met with a need? You were met with a situation, a conversation, Or maybe a relationship issue that was difficult to deal with. Maybe it was a family issue. Maybe it was something at work, the person a couple offices down. Maybe an issue came up with here, somebody at church or in care group. We're constantly being bombarded with these types of situations and dilemmas. Why? Because we live in a fallen world like Derek talked about, like Derek preached last week. Last week, we live in a fallen world. So we're going to be confronted with the brokenness and these dilemmas, these situations that are in need of desperate restoration.
So think about those dilemmas. Think about those difficult moments. Think about those phone calls you receive. Think about those emails. Think about those conversations. Think about those difficult relationships. Think about those people you come across at work. Or at the park, or at the grocery store, or your neighborhood, you're presented with a painful or broken situation. So this morning, if we are the ones whose eyes have been opened to the power of the gospel and the redemptive work of Christ, how do we respond when faced with this type of brokenness and pain and people in need of restoration? What is the Holy Spirit in us calling us to do in these moments? Where do our hearts turn? What does it look like? And that's what I want to look at Luke 7. What did Christ do? Let's look to Christ.
6 · The preacher announces the sermon's structure: four truths that emerge when Jesus encounters the hopeless situation in Nain
So to start with, I want to consider 4 truths. That we see when Jesus comes on the scene in the midst of the dilemma when he's presenting— Jesus is presented with a seemingly hopeless situation. What happens? What happens when the kingdom of God advances on the scene? Let's look to Christ.
7 · The preacher introduces the first of four truths—compassion—and explains the cultural context of the widow's desperate situation: losing her only son meant losing her sole means of protection, provision, and care in a society where widows had no other recourse
One of the first things we see when Jesus enters the scene is compassion. As the curtain goes up, we see two crowds. As the scene unfolds, we see two crowds approaching one another. Like we just, like we just talked about, there's a large crowd surrounding and following Jesus, and at the same time, he's met by another large crowd. But this crowd is full of loud cries and and wailing and weeping in despair. So why all the weeping? Why all the despair? Why all the loud cries? Well, what had just happened is there was a widowed mother who had just lost her son. And it's important to note that the culture and the context of this time, if you were a widow at this time, first of all, your situation would be pretty bad. If you're a widow, your husband obviously would not not be there. And in that culture, the women didn't necessarily work, so they would have no way of protection, no way of earning income. They would be kind of left helpless and alone. So what would you do if you were a widow? Generally, what you would do is you'd turn to your children. But what's even worse in this situation is this widowed mom, her only son has died. So she was left with absolutely nothing. She was completely alone with nobody to care for her, nobody to look out for her, and nobody provide— to provide for her.
8 · The preacher emphasizes that Jesus, despite the commotion and chaos, stops and focuses on a woman who was a social nobody with nothing to offer
So as these two very different crowds approach each other, the very first thing we see is Jesus, the Eternal One, the Son of God, he's moved by compassion for this widowed, helpless woman. Jesus's eyes are turned toward this widowed mother whose only son is being led out of the city to be buried. A woman who would have been considered a nobody socially with nothing to offer except hopelessness and despair. And in the midst of the commotion and the chaos, Jesus' eyes are struck by this woman. Jesus' heart is filled with compassion for this woman. Jesus stops what he's doing and his eyes are turned toward this widowed mother and his heart is stirred.
9 · The preacher uses negative contrast to highlight what Jesus did not do—he did not view the widow's situation as an interruption to his agenda or ministry plans
To put it in the negative sense, what Jesus does not do He doesn't keep going on his way. Jesus doesn't think, you know what, man, I got to get into the city of Nain. There's ministry opportunities in there. I have this crowd following me. We got to get in there. You know, Peter, John, can you do something about this funeral procession here? This wasn't on my plan for the day. This wasn't on my agenda. That's not how Jesus responds, right? No. That's not how Jesus responds. He doesn't say, 'These people are interrupting what I want to do.' No, Jesus sees this widowed mother and he has compassion on her. His heart breaks for her.
10 · The preacher provides a word study on the Greek term for compassion, explaining that the literal translation conveys visceral, gut-level feeling—Jesus felt compassion from the very depths of his being for this helpless, hopeless woman
The literal translation here would read that Jesus's heart was moved by compassion, that his bowels or insides were moved with compassion. It's the idea that Jesus felt compassion from the very very depths of his body for this woman who was helpless, hopeless, this woman who was a nobody.
11 · The preacher makes a theological claim about the nature of Jesus's compassion: it was not motivated by guilt, pressure, or people-pleasing, but by desire to do the Father's will
And it's important to take note here. It's important to take note who was the one stepping out of the crowd, who was the one taking initiative to redeem and restore. It's Jesus himself, right? Jesus is not bothered by this situation. He's not moved by guilt. He's not moved. He's not moved by pressure or desire to please the crowds. No, Jesus is moved by desire to do the Father's will. And his heart is filled with compassion.
12 · The preacher synthesizes the first movement of the kingdom: Jesus stopped, stepped out of the crowd, and focused on the helpless widow because his heart was pierced by compassion
Amidst the chaos, the commotion going on around him, Jesus stops what he's doing. Think about that. He stops what he's doing. He steps out of the crowd and he focuses in on this helpless widow because his heart is filled with compassion for her. So when presenting with this, when presented with this dilemma, with a seemingly hopeless situation, We see first that Jesus stops what he's doing because his heart is pierced by compassion. His heart is pierced with compassion for this nobody woman.
13 · The preacher introduces the second movement—confidence and clarity—by drawing the congregation into the reality of death through a personal story about his daughters seeing a dead body for the first time at a memorial service, emphasizing the obvious, undeniable nature of death
The second thing we see in this dilemma, in this scene, in this broken situation, is Jesus acts with complete confidence and clarity. I want you to think about this for a second. Think about the scene unfolding here because we've all been to a funeral, right? We've all been to memorial service. In fact, just over a year ago, I know I mentioned a couple weeks ago, there was a memorial service here just about a year ago, and there's a dead man laying just right over here, and it was an open casket memorial service, and it was the first time my daughters had ever seen like a real live actual dead person or Is that right? A live dead person in real life, like not on TV. So we kind of had to walk them through that. And they walked up to the front, you know, and they saw it was Noel's grandfather. And we walked up to the front and you could— I mean, you could tell it was obvious, you know, this man was dead. He was pale. His skin was waxy. Everyone knew this man was dead. There was no breath in his lungs. There was no blood pumping through his veins. Like he's dead. He's, he's dead. Dead. No life in him at all.
14 · The preacher returns to the Nain scene and highlights the first awkward, counter-intuitive thing Jesus does: he tells the grieving mother to stop crying
So think about the situation here. Jesus comes on the scene. His heart is moved by compassion for the mother of this dead man. Everyone knows, obviously, this guy's dead, right? They're in the middle of a funeral procession. And what does Jesus tell the mother of this dead man? He only says two things in this whole account, the first thing he says, he turns to the woman and he says, 'Do not weep.' What were people thinking at that time? What is Jesus up to? What is Jesus doing? You have these two crowds meeting each other and Jesus tells this dead man's mom, 'Stop crying.' Stop crying.
15 · The preacher walks through Jesus's second action—touching the bier—and emphasizes the awkwardness and confusion of the moment
And then what happens next? Jesus draws near to the men carrying the bier. He draws near to them and then he touches the bier. It doesn't say that he touches the people carrying the bier. He doesn't touch the dead man. It says he reaches out and he touches the bier. And a bier would simply just be like a mat on poles, and you would see the dead body laying on top. They'd probably be buried in loose burial linens or burial cloths. Jesus reaches up. And touches the bier. He says, 'Woman, don't weep.' He walks over to the bier, touches the bier. Think about that. Here's a dead man in the middle of a funeral procession. What were people thinking? You can almost feel— I read that and you can almost feel the anticipation. All of a sudden, things probably got really quiet really fast, right? What is Jesus going to do? Who is this guy? Like, we heard about him. Didn't he just heal that centurion's servant? Isn't he this guy from Galilee? Who is this guy? What's this guy up to?
16 · The preacher synthesizes the second movement: Jesus acted with complete confidence and clarity because he was doing exactly what the Father had called him to do
But with complete confidence and clarity in what Jesus knew his Father had called him to do, what does Jesus do next? He starts talking to this dead man. Everything's silent, everything's quiet, and then Jesus starts talking to this dead man. The reality of this is incredible. I mean, really, can you imagine being in the middle of a memorial service or a funeral and somebody comes up to the coffin and starts talking to the dead guy? It'd be pretty awkward, wouldn't it? I say, I think it would be awkward. I'd be like, I don't know what's going on here. This is crazy. But was Jesus ashamed? Was he afraid? Was he shy? Was he intimidated? Was he concerned what other people were thinking at that time? No. We see Jesus moves and acts with complete confidence in what his Father had called him to do. The situation probably seemed uncomfortable. It probably seemed awkward. It probably seemed kind of mysterious to the onlookers. These crowds got real quiet. What's going on here? But to Jesus, who's confident in what his Father had called him to, he's just being obedient, right? He's just doing what the Father Father had called him to do. He's literally living in the reality of what it means to keep in step with the Spirit and confidently, without hesitation, without doubt, without concern for the peripheral stuff going on around him, the commotion, the chaos, the crowds. Jesus does what he's been sent to do, doing exactly the Father's will at that moment.
17 · The preacher introduces the third movement—the call—and magnifies it by connecting Jesus's word to the dead man to the same creative and sustaining word that brought the universe into existence and upholds it by his power
The next thing we see, the next thing we see is a call. When the kingdom of God advances on the scene, when Jesus moves on the scene, the first thing we see is Jesus is filled with compassion. Next, we see he's confident and intentional in what his father had called him to do. And then we see Jesus has a call. There is a calling from death to life. There's a call that brings hope. Hope. There's a call that brings life and restoration. And I want us to really stop here and pause and think about this call. Consider this call that comes out of Jesus's mouth, because out of the same mouth, just think about the words. It's the only other thing that we read in this account. The call Think about this call. It's the same call out of the same mouth, out of the same breath that called the moon and stars and galaxies and plants and animals and everything created and uncreated into existence. Out of the same mouth that Hebrews 1:3 says that he upholds the universe by the word of his power, out of that same mouth, Jesus calls to this dead human and he says to you, young man, I say to you, arise.
18 · The preacher traces the immediate result of Jesus's call: the dead man sits up and begins to speak
And what happens when Jesus brings forth this call, when he proclaims this call out of his mouth? There's power, right? There's life, there's restoration. The young man, he sits up and he begins to talk. I've been reading this and studying this, and I'm curious to know what he said. You know, I was thinking about, I was like, what does he say? What's he— he just gets up and starts talking. What was he talking about? We don't know. When Jesus enters the scene, when the kingdom of God advances, what happens here in this situation? What happens to the brokenness? Life is restored. There's redemption. The broken things are made new. And then look what Jesus does next. He doesn't just stop there, but he gives the young man back to his mother. There's a giving back of what was lost. Not only is life given back to this young man, but there's a giving back of what was lost to the mother. Hope is restored.
19 · The preacher emphasizes the emotional and relational dimension of the miracle: the mother receives back what was lost forever
I mean, can you imagine the mother's feelings? If you're a mom, you probably can a lot better than I can. As a dad, I could understand. But as a mother who's hopeless and lost, can you imagine Jesus saying, 'Here's your son. Here he is. Here's your son.' The woman who was just moments ago weeping and helpless and hopeless, she's given back her only son. Life is given and hope is restored. The scene changes drastically, doesn't it? When Jesus comes on the scene just moments ago, what used to be a funeral scene, a scene that was filled with weeping and wailing and death and sorrow and hopelessness. Now it's a scene that's filled with hope and life and restoration. Jesus calls life into this young man and a hopeless woman has restored her son And not only that, but a relationship is restored. A relationship that was lost forever is now restored.
20 · The preacher introduces the fourth movement—the result—by reading Luke 7:16-17 and naming the effect: fear, consuming awe, glorification of God, and the spreading of Jesus's fame throughout the region
Which brings us to the result. What happens next? Not only is there hope restored, not only is there life, not only is there restoration, but what's the, what's the effect? What happens with the crowds? How do the crowds respond? When God advances on the scene. Let's check out verses 16 and 17. It says this: Fear seized them all. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people. And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. What's the effect? There's a consuming awe. There's fear. There's a God being magnified and a spreading of God's fame.
21 · The preacher provides a word study on the Greek term phobos, explaining that the crowds were struck with terror or dread—the same root word behind phobias like arachnophobia and acrophobia
You can see it in how the people respond, right? They were first and primarily struck with fear. And the same word here for fear, the literal translation means that they were struck with fear or with terror or dread. That'd be a better way to describe it would be terror, dread. It's the Greek word that's literally translated as phobos. Am I saying that right, Derek? Phobos? Phobos, thank you. I was like, I'm hoping Derek's here. I went on the internet and I did the little, like you can hear the, Fobos, fobos. But it's not the same when you hear it when the guy on the internet says it. But so fobos, but that's what they were literally. It could be translated that these people, the crowds, were literally seized with fobos, the same word that we get arachnophobia, fear of spiders, or it's another one, acrophobia, fear of heights. That same word, they were struck with fear or dread.
22 · The preacher emphasizes that the crowds did not immediately celebrate but were struck with fear and awe
So it's not like all of a sudden this big party broke out, which is kind of funny to think about. You know, primarily they were struck with fear. There wasn't a party. There wasn't a celebration. There wasn't immediate rejoicing or celebration. No, these people were actually afraid. They were taken aback by the situation. They had a sense that there is something bigger going on. This isn't just an ordinary guy, this Jesus. He's not just an ordinary man. And then the people, even in their lack of understanding and even in their lack of knowledge of who this man Jesus is, they don't really get it. You know, we can read from this thing. Jesus is a great prophet. They don't even really get what's going on, but they still understand the magnitude of it. They still proclaim, God's been with us. God's been here. This is an act of God. And as a result, the fame of Jesus spreads across the region. The people see this restoration of life and they spread the news. The kingdom of God advances. And just think about this, just a little, just a little bit of God's power is put on display in this situation. And the people are consumed. With awe. They're consumed with awe. And they spread the word, telling others about this man Jesus and the amazing thing that they witnessed. And before you know it, you know, even without social media, even without Facebook or texting or Twitter, Jesus is known across the region. Jesus is made known just by word of mouth, simple word of mouth, but these people who don't even get it. These people don't even really understand who Jesus is.
23 · The preacher transitions from exposition to gospel application by declaring that the Nain account is not merely a historical story but a picture of the gospel and a reflection of God's heart for us
So this morning, I hope for us as we go on that the story doesn't end here. And it shouldn't end here. This account isn't just a history lesson, obviously. I know you know that. It's not just a nice story of Jesus raising a dead guy to life. No, this story is a beautiful picture of the gospel. This is a reflection of God's heart and what he's done for us today. And that's what I want to further look at and bring to the surface this morning so we can feed on that, so we can remind ourselves of those gospel truths that we're so prone to lose sight of. So how do we see Christ's heart for us in this account that Luke gives us?
24 · The preacher makes the first redemptive-historical connection: just as Jesus had compassion on the helpless widow, he has compassion on us when we were helpless sinners
Well, first of all, in the same way that Jesus had compassion on this mother who was hopeless and helpless, this mother who is left without nothing, Jesus has compassion on us when we were hopeless and helpless. To save ourselves. And I'd like you to turn to Romans 5:8, please. Romans 5:8-11, it kind of parallels what we'll be talking about this morning. It brings it out very, very articulately, very beautifully. Romans 5:8 says this, it says, but God shows us His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Again, just like the testimony we see in Luke 7, who's the initiator in this situation? Who's the initiator? It's Christ. It's Christ showing His love for us while we were sinners, while we were stuck in our sin, while we were stuck in our rebellion. Christ initiates love and he dies for us. It's Jesus himself. When we're stuck in our sin and rebellion, when we were hopeless and lost, when we had absolutely nothing, Jesus had compassion on us. He comes down to earth to relate with his creation, to share in our humanity, to face the same things we face every day. And Jesus's heart is moved with compassion. Just like Jesus looked at the mother and said, don't weep. Jesus comes down to earth. He has compassion on us. And he says to us, don't weep. I've come. I've come to restore. I'm here. Don't weep. Don't cry. I've come. I know you're stuck. I've come to restore. The things that were meant to be. I've come to bring reconciliation. I've come to bring hope. Don't weep.
25 · The preacher makes the second redemptive-historical connection: just as Jesus confidently and resolutely stepped away from the crowds to touch the bier, he confidently and resolutely set out to redeem us by humbling himself, taking on human flesh, and going to the cross to take on our sin and punishment
The same way that Jesus was resolute and confident in stepping away from the multitude following him, he stepped away from the crowds. He walked up and touched the bier. Jesus is also confident and resolute in the way he loves us and the way he sets out to redeem us. Jesus exemplifies what it means to initiate love. Jesus is the definition. Jesus, Jesus is the epitome of one who confidently and resolutely sets out to restore what's been lost and broken, no matter what the cost. Philippians 2:6, it reminds us that Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. The magnitude and the implications of this verse, Philippians 2, I mean, really, we could stop and think about that and meditate on that for hours, for hours, that the Son of God— think about that— the Word, the one to whom all things were created by and created for, he humbled himself. He puts on human flesh with all of our pains, with all its aches and temptations, and then he obediently humbly, confidently, and resolutely obeys all that the Father has for Him. He takes on our sin, takes on our shame, He takes on the punishment that we deserve, and then He humbly, obediently, resolutely sets out and goes to the cross. He goes to the cross. So that He could redeem and restore a hopeless people who are lost and broken.
26 · The preacher makes the third redemptive-historical connection: just as the young man was dead and powerless to save himself, our hearts were dead and powerless because of sin
And then what does Christ do next? It doesn't end there. In the same way that the young man lay dead and cold and lifeless, in the same way, because of our sin and rebellion, our hearts We're dead and cold and lifeless. There is nothing we could do to make our hearts come alive. There's nothing we could do to make our— to be filled with life. There's nothing we could do to give ourselves hope. There's nothing we could do on our own strength and power to bring redemption, to bring reconciliation. Just like this young man who was on his way to be buried in the grave, That's what they were about to do, right? They were bringing him as a funeral procession. They're going to bring him outside of the city and he was going to be buried in the ground. There was nothing anybody could do about that situation. There's nothing anybody could do to change the ending of the story, right? That was the fact. But then what happens? Jesus comes on the scene.
27 · The preacher continues the redemptive-historical parallel: just as Jesus called the dead man to arise, he calls our dead hearts to life by his blood
Romans 5:9-10, it says, since therefore we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by His life. Because of Jesus' shed blood on the cross, He reconciles us to God. He restores us. He redeems us. He takes our hearts that are lifeless and dead. He takes our hearts that were laying on the coffin, hopeless and helpless, headed towards destruction, headed towards the wrath of God, and He commands life. He says, 'By my blood, arise!' And He commands life into our dead hearts. Jesus makes our hearts alive.
28 · The preacher makes the fourth redemptive-historical connection: just as Jesus gave the son back to his mother, Jesus returns us to the Father
But He doesn't just stop there. He doesn't stop there. Just like Jesus returns the dead man to his mother, Jesus returns us to the Father. Jesus presents us to the Father through Jesus's own blood. He reconciles us to the Father and restores the relationship that was meant to be. Jesus goes to the Father. He raises us up by his blood, and Jesus goes to the Father. He says, here, Father, look, They're cleansed, they're redeemed. I've washed them with my own blood. Relationship restored. Father, here they are, pure and blameless. That's what Christ has done for us. Relationship with the Father restored. Relationship restored.
29 · The preacher transitions to application by framing two questions: First, how do we respond to what Christ has done for us? Second (implied), what is our response to the brokenness around us? This unit sets up the final movement of the sermon
And that's where I want to end this morning with some application. I'd like to look at two things. And first, I want to look at how do we respond to what Christ has done for us? How do we respond to this gospel? How do we respond to this good news? How does a heart that's been reconciled and renewed and restored and made alive— how does a heart like that respond?
30 · The preacher answers the first application question by pointing to the crowds' response: they made much of Jesus, glorified God, and spread his fame—even without fully understanding who Jesus was
Well, we can take our cues from The crowd in Luke 7, right? How did the crowds respond to this young man being brought back to life? The ultimate result, the ultimate result was that even though these people didn't fully understand who Jesus was, they didn't fully get it, but the ultimate result was they made much. Of Jesus. They were in awe of him. They talked about him. They told others what had happened. The crowds glorified God and the fame of Jesus spread throughout the region. It was just natural. The fame of Jesus just naturally spread throughout the region. But the crazy thing about this, I mentioned it before, the crazy thing is the crowds didn't even get it right. They didn't even fully understand who Jesus was. They just thought that Jesus was a nice a prophet. They just thought he was some prophet, right? They didn't really get it. They only had a small understanding of who Jesus was. Their eyes weren't open to the full resolution— resolution— revelation of who God was. But the Holy Spirit has opened our eyes. We do know and confess truths. About Jesus being the Son of God. We do know how Jesus has redeemed and restored and reconciled us to the Father. We do know that our hearts were dead and destined for wrath and destruction, and Christ comes on the scene and restores us. We do know that. So how much more, how much more awe and wonder should there be in us
31 · The preacher cites Romans 5:11 to support the application: Paul's response to reconciliation is to rejoice in God through Jesus Christ
Romans 5:11 finishes with this in this section. Paul says this: More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom, through whom we now have received reconciliation. Paul says that once we were enemies of God, once we were objects of God's wrath, And now we're justified by Christ's blood. We're reconciled to God. We've been given life through Christ. And what's Paul's response to what Christ has done for us? He says we rejoice, we make much of Jesus, we glorify and praise God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
32 · The preacher illustrates the posture of rejoicing and gratitude by quoting lyrics from a worship song sung that morning
You know, I was just thinking about that this morning. You know, we sang the song this morning Jesus, thank you. You know, we read a song like this. It says, your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you. The Father's wrath completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you. Once your enemy, once your enemy, now seated by your table, seated at your table. Jesus, thank you. Jesus, thank you.
33 · The preacher steps into a pastoral voice and expresses his longing for Providence: that the congregation would be so gripped by the gospel that they rejoice continually, make Jesus famous, and have the joy of salvation flowing from their mouths and actions
That's my prayer and longing for us at Providence, that we would be so gripped by the message of the gospel, that we so understand the power of God for salvation, that we'd be continually reminded of what we were that we were just like this dead man laying on a coffin, powerless and without hope. And then Jesus made us alive and reconciled us to the Father, that we'd be gripped with that reality and say, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you. Like Paul, I long for us. That's my prayer, is that, that we'd be gripped, we'd understand the power of the gospel so well that it would cause us to rejoice again and again and again because of the salvation of life we'd be given, we've been given, that there would be a longing, not just on Sunday morning, not just for 15 minutes during our day, but there'd be a longing to praise and honor God and make Jesus Famous, make Him esteemed in our lives, that when we speak, the joy of salvation would flow from our mouths. When we act, our attitudes and actions would make known the One who has the power to save not only us, but the power to redeem and restore those around us. Jesus, thank You. We'd be gripped by that reality.
34 · The preacher transitions to the second application question: How should we respond to the brokenness around us? He reminds the congregation that we live in a fallen world and will be met with broken situations daily, and frames the question in terms of believers who have the Holy Spirit living inside them
And the second last thing I want to look at this morning is what is our response to others? What is our response to the things that are broken? Like we talked about, we live in a fallen world. We're going to be met with broken situations. We're going to be bombarded daily the brokenness of the fall, with the sin. And what's our response going to be in the day-to-day, in the mundane of life, as those who have the Holy Spirit living inside of us?
35 · The preacher makes a theological claim about the indwelling Holy Spirit: the same Spirit that raised the dead man now lives inside believers
That's us. The same power and spirit that was at work when Jesus walked up to a dead man said, arise, that same Spirit living inside of us, if we are indwelt with that same Spirit, what are the implications? What are the implications of that? How might we respond to those around us when there's discouragement, when there's complaining, when there's bitterness, when there's brokenness, when there's a seemingly hopeless situation, when there's a difficult relationship? When we're bombarded with these needs, when we're bombarded with the brokenness that surrounds us, that surrounds our communities, that surrounds our homes, how might the Holy Spirit in us come on the scene and change the ending of the story?
36 · The preacher clarifies the application: he is not primarily talking about spectacular miracles but about our posture and attitude toward the brokenness around us
If this account in Luke 7 If this account in Luke 7 is a picture of what it looks like when the Holy Spirit moves, and if we see how Jesus can change the atmosphere, can change things when he steps on the scene, where are we at? You know, and I'm not necessarily talking about this morning all these spectacular things happening and walking into funeral homes and raising people from the dead. You know, I'm not talking about that. It could happen if that's what the Holy Spirit's called us to at that moment. But what I'm talking about, what I'm referring to, is what's our response? What's our attitude to the brokenness around us, to the brokenness around us? Do we feel the same compassion that Jesus felt? Our thoughts, our attitudes, where we turn to in those difficult or unsettling moments. Consider that carefully. It's not just a story, but consider what we see here in Luke 7 as a standard.
37 · The preacher becomes vulnerable and confesses his own struggle: he wrestles with self-absorbed areas of his heart where he does not care about broken situations, where he glosses over hurting people because they do not fit his agenda
Consider it carefully because I don't want to this morning, honestly, I don't want to just be left with a nice story. I don't want to just read this and be like, man, that was really cool what Jesus did. And then like, and then just go about, go about my day, go about my week. When I'm constantly bombarded. I can think of 10 different things this last week where I was confronted with a difficult situation, a difficult relationship. I hope and pray when we look at accounts like these in Luke 7, when we see the power of the Holy Spirit, when we see the gospel being spread, in the New Testament, that it wouldn't just be a nice testimony or a nice story. I hope it would remind us of the beauty of the gospel, but that it wouldn't just end with a reminder, a good reminder. I hope and pray that it would also— and I pray this for myself, I wrestle with this myself, I'm just being honest before you guys, I wrestle with this myself. I read this and I wrestle with it. Because I want it to expose and shine a light on the self-absorbed areas in my own heart, the selfishness in my own heart that when I met with those broken situations, a lot of times, you know what, I'm just like, I don't even really care. You know what, this isn't what I planned for the day. This doesn't go according to my agenda. A lot of times I don't even notice it, to be honest. I can just kind of gloss over the situation. There's broken, hurting people in need of restoration, in need of redemption. I want Luke 7 to reveal those places in our heart where we cling to our own expectations, our own agendas, where we're tempted to prioritize and value what we do based on our own self-consuming desires. When it becomes my time, my schedule, my money, what are other people gonna think about me? What are people gonna think if I step out and start talking to this person? Or if I stop and pray for this person? Man, this person doesn't even really treat me very well. I don't wanna be around them.
38 · The preacher applies the Luke 7 account as a standard for keeping in step with the Holy Spirit
This account in Luke 7 gives us a clear example and a standard of the reality of what it really looks like to keep in step with the Holy Spirit. It shows us that by our own means, it shows me that by my own means, it reminds me that by my own means, by our own means, by our own efforts, when we lose sight of the beauty of the gospel, when we're not gripped by what the gospel has done for us, when we forget it, you know what happens? Rather than being the life-filled, hope-filled, joyful, obedient person that Christ exemplified in Luke 7, A lot of times, you know what, I end up looking a lot more like this widowed mother. There's heaviness, there's anxiousness, there's confusion. I'm afraid of what people are going to think. I'm afraid of the future. I don't have much hope to offer.
39 · The preacher expresses his longing for himself and the church: that their hearts would be pierced by brokenness the way Jesus's heart was, that they would pursue the Luke 7 standard as normal, and that they would pray corporately for God to help them respond to brokenness with redemption, hope, and life
When Jesus came on the scene, his heart was pierced. I want my heart to be pierced by the things that are broken and the things that were broken. He made new. There was redemption. There was a giving of hope in life. And as a church, that's what I long. That's what I pray for. That's what when we gather to pray at our corporate prayer meetings, these are the things we pray for. These are the things we pray for that we say, God, would you help us in these areas? I pray that we'd be a church that looks to these accounts we read of, read of with Jesus and the way the Holy Spirit worked and moved, and that we would pursue that as the standard, that that would be normal for us.
40 · The preacher calls the congregation to respond like Christ when confronted with brokenness: to be pierced by compassion instead of complacency, to be gripped by the gospel, and to pray for the Holy Spirit to fill them with the words and the call to redeem and restore broken situations
Like Christ's example when he was surrounded by the crowds outside that little town of Nain, when he was surrounded by the commotion, while he was surrounded by the chaos and the confusion and the weeping and the wailing, He was surrounded by it when he was approached with this dilemma, when he was approached with a hopeless situation, with brokenness. When approached with a situation, when we are approached with a situation in a relationship in need of restoration, that we would be pierced by compassion. Instead of complacency, that we'd be gripped by the beauty and the power of the gospel that would overwhelm our hearts, that in those moments we'd remember, Jesus, this is what you've done for me. Thank you, Jesus. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I can redeem and restore this broken situation. Give me the words to say. Give me the call at this moment. Help me, Jesus. Fill me with your Holy Spirit.
41 · The preacher extends the application to the congregation's entire lives: that their longing for God's kingdom would shape their decisions, priorities, time, and money
In those moments, we'd have a longing to see God's kingdom come and God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That our decisions our priorities, the way we value our time and money, that would reflect this longing to see the lost and broken things restored, that everything we do, it would reflect this longing, this— that we're gripped by the gospel and we're so filled with the Holy Spirit that we long, that we're looking, that they just don't pass us by, that we're— that we're not just so distracted by what's going on around us. That we don't even think about it, we don't even notice, but we'd actually be looking, that our eyes would be open to the broken and the lost.
42 · The preacher gives concrete application: the congregation can start responding to brokenness in their own church and care groups
And you know what? The broken and lost situations, you know what, we can start here in our own church. We can start in our care groups. We don't have to go far. I'm not saying we shouldn't go far, But we don't have to go far. Asking the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and fill us, to give us the calling, to give us the words to say, that wherever we go, the redemptive power of the gospel, it would be evident to those around us, so that ultimately, at the end of the day, ultimately, stories of God's grace stories of God's mercy, stories of God's redemption, stories of God's reconciliation, that they'd be like an aroma, that they'd spread wherever we go, that they would pour from our hearts, that when we gather as care groups, as a church, it'd be evident, it would pour from us. It would burst forth, it would pour from us.
43 · The preacher closes by calling the congregation to prayer, asking them to pray for the things he has just applied—that they would be gripped by the gospel, filled with the Spirit, and responsive to brokenness with compassion and redemptive power
So let's pray. Let's pray for that this morning.