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from “Luke 7, verses 11-23”

It's that he's with me when it gets hard. God hasn't forgotten you. He's favored you. The hand of God has always been on your life, and it's still on your life. I don't listen to prisons. I listen to him. Stand up on your feet. It's preaching time. Come on, Columbia, Riverwalk, UC, Toronto, all of our campuses, we're going to be sharing from Luke chapter 7 today in our fourth installment of the series I Know That Voice. I know a name, and I know that voice. It's been my aim through the series not to teach you so much systematically, like three steps to hear from God or seven steps to hear from God, because I figure God is way bigger than seven steps. One time in the Bible, God spoke through a donkey. So I figure if we start listing all the ways that God could speak, we'd be here too long. We would miss lunch. So what I'm endeavoring to do instead is just give you some pictures from the Scripture of the times when the Lord spoke, and then as we paint that picture, hopefully you will see specifically something that God is speaking to you. How many have felt God speaking to you in the last few weeks as we've been journeying through his word together? Now in Luke chapter 7, I'm going to read two stories. The first one I'm not going to preach on, but it will be so helpful for us to understand the second one. In Luke chapter 7, verse 11, Luke 7, 11, that was easy for me to remember where to start today. The Bible says, soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain after his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her, and he said, don't cry. Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, young man, I say to you, get up. Watch this. Verse 15. The dead man sat up. Even a body that isn't breathing knows that voice. I said, even a body that has ceased breathing knows that voice. Don't even have a pulse, but I know that voice. Being carried out of the gate. Then the Bible says he sat up and began to talk. Jesus was talking, and then he was talking, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. A great prophet has appeared among us, they said. God has come to help his people. This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. Remember that isn't the story I want to preach about. Here's what I want to talk about today. Verse 18. John's disciples told him about all these things, calling two of them. He sent them to the Lord to ask, Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? What kind of crazy question is that? You just heard that he raised somebody from the dead, and you want to know, are you really who you claim to be? What kind of crazy question to ask from John of all people. John the Baptist. I can understand Mark the Methodist, Ernie the Episcopalian, but this is John the Baptist.

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