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Healing School #23 | The Widow's Son | Nancy Dufresne | Jesus the Healer Broadcast
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message.
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Welcome to Jesus the Healer. We're so glad you joined us today. We have been really enjoying ourselves as we've studied healing school. And what we're calling healing school is going through the the miracles of healing that happened under Jesus earthly ministry. And we're studying them verse by, you know, as we're sitting under the teaching of the Word. Did you know that we're sitting under the works of Jesus? Jesus went everywhere teaching, preaching and healing. And he said, the works that I do, those are the works that he did. He said, shall you do also? So as you're sitting today and you're sitting under the teaching of this Word, you're sitting under the works of Jesus. So expect something. Receive God's power into your need. Amen. So go with us, if you would, to Luke chapter 7 and we're going to start reading in verse 11 and we're going to read this portion of scripture and then we're going to go back and we're going to study each verse. So Luke 7:11 reads, and it came to pass. The day after that Jesus went into a city called Nain. And many of his disciples were 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 and said unto her, weep not. And he came and touched the casket, and they that bare him stood still. And he said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat up. I mean that's worth stopping for right there. I've got to keep reading, but that is just too good. He that was dead sat up and began to speak. And Jesus delivered him to, to his mother. And there came a fear on all. And they glorifying God, saying that a great prophet is risen up among us and that God has visited his people. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all the region. Roundabout, I want you to look with us at verse 11. Let's back up and let's look at each verse. And it says, 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. So this is the only time that we have record that Jesus entered this city. This city is 21 miles away from Capernaum. Now, Jesus had moved his headquarters, of course, he was raised in Nazareth, but he moved his headquarters to Capernaum. So this is 21 miles away from Capernaum. And this is, as we said, the first time or the only time we had record of him entering the city. But what an entrance. This happens at the gate right as he comes into the city. And it wasn't just his 12 disciples with him. Because it said that his disciples went with him and much people. So verse 12 says. Now, when he came nigh to the gate of the city. So he's approaching the city gate and 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. I want to say something to those who may be watching who are widows. The Word says that God is the husband to the widow. So that means that you did not lose out on oversight of your life. God takes you personally on he is the husband to the widow, you are God's wife. And God will not be outdone by a man. He will not be outdone. He will take better care of you than any man could have ever taken care of you. So don't you ever be afraid. And this is what we see. I think it's important to note she's a widow. God has taken personal interest in her. And it's not a coincidence that. That Jesus is arriving at the time of this widow's sorrow. I so believe it is God as the husband to the widow. That is making sure that this widow's need is addressed. And so Jesus arrives here. The dead were always carried outside of the city and buried. No burying places were allowed in the cities, much less around a synagogue or anything. So they always would carry the dead outside the city. There would be rare exceptions that were made with royalty. But when you just had the general population, they would be carried outside the city. So this is why Jesus catches them as they are exiting through the city. So this man who had died was an only son of this widow. And his age isn't given. But in verse 14, Jesus. Jesus called him a young man. So we know this. He died prematurely. He died prematurely. Plus we know he's younger because his mother is still alive. And I will say this, it's out of order for parents to bury children. God never intended for parents to bury children. That's out of the order that it should be in. And so we know that this is a young man, verse 13. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said unto her, weep not. Now notice it didn't say, when he saw the young man. He had compassion. He said, when he saw the mother. When he saw the mother, why, she's a widow. This is her only son. And you can imagine what this son would have meant to her life. But notice the compassion flows at this time when he sees her at her point of need. So the compassion for this mother moved him to action. He had compassion on her. Now, when Jesus had compassion, he never just said, oh, I feel bad for them. Oh, I really feel. I wish that hadn't happened for them. Every time you saw that Jesus was moved with compassion, it moved him to action. He did something. It's not enough to just feel bad for someone. Bible compassion moves you to action. So Jesus was full of compassion. The Word tells us so much of the time how God is full of compassion. Jesus was full of compassion. And we can see this, that what you're full of is what will move you to action. When you're full of good things, then good things move you to act. You move to the action of doing good things. If you're full of bad things, then that's what you act out. What you're full of is what's going to move you. There are some people that are full of hate. They're full of bitterness, they're full of unforgiveness, they're full of rebellion, they're full of offense. And so those things move them. They get stirred up and they'll spread that. But for the believer, we're not to be full of any of that. We're not to even have any remnant of that in us. We're to be full of what Jesus is full of. He was full of compassion. He was full of mercy, he was full of love, he was full of goodness. So compassion, it's not a pity, it's not just a sympathy saying, oh, I feel bad for you. It's more than that. It's not a natural emotional flow. Compassion is a spiritual flow. It's not a mental, natural or emotional flow. It's a spiritual flow. It's a divine flow out of our spirits. So this compassion came out of his spirit, not out of his emotions. Compassion means this, to suffer with another so that you seem to be afflicted in the same way they are. You step into what they feel. You don't just say, oh, I know how you feel. You really feel as they feel. And many times when you're praying for someone, you can, if I could say this. When the Holy Ghost is directing you and praying for someone, many times you will begin to take on the feelings that they're going, of what they're going through, if they're going through a particular test. You'll feel that way so much of the time. Sometimes if you're in a church and the pastor is giving an altar call, sometimes even though you're born again, even though you're saved, you may feel as though you're lost. What is that you're in? The compassion of God is on the inside of you and it's welling up. And you're sensing the condition of someone else that's in that service, someone else who is lost. You're sensing their spiritual condition, and it seems as though it's actually happening to you. That's what compassion will do. And that compassion can show up in prayer. When you're praying for someone, sometimes maybe you're praying for someone who is really going through a depression or they're oppressed or they're mentally overworked, so to speak, about a certain condition. Many times when you're praying for them, you will feel that same thing. Come on, you. What is that? That's the compassion of God that you enter into what they feel. But you just keep praying and primarily praying in other tongues, praying in the spirit for them. And as you do, and that lifts off of you, you know, it lifted off of them. Amen. So this compassion will lead you to do something. Amen. In this situation, it led Jesus to act. And so compassion brought about a miracle. We don't see anything about faith mentioned. We don't see anything about expectation mentioned. No one sent for Jesus. He showed up and compassion initiated a miracle. Hallelujah. Every time we saw a passage where Jesus was moved with compassion, there was always a healing or a miracle connected to it. Always a healing or a miracle. So know this. Anyone who is sick and suffering Jesus looks upon them with compassion. Amen. So as believers and as God's children, we should have that same flow of compassion moving in our lives. Because we are his children. The same thing that flows in him should flow in us. Amen. And the more we operate under the flow of compassion, the more we are in the flow where miracles and healings can occur. Compassion is the miracle flow. Compassion is the healing flow. And when we step into compassion, we step into that flow where miracles and healings can happen if we will yield to that compassion and cooperate with the compassion of God. One of the most outstanding incidents where we've we have record of a testimony that happening is under the ministry of John G. Lake. John G. Lake was a man who had a strong healing anointing on his life and ministry. He would have been on the forefront in the earlier part of the 1900s. And on one occasion, there was a woman that had a terminal condition, and he had been ministering to her. He was visiting her on a regular basis. And she was in the final stages of this terminal condition. So you can imagine the suffering physically that she was experiencing. And so John G. Lake would sit by her bed and he would read healing scriptures to her. This was before they had the ability to, you know, have it recorded. And so he would sit by the hour and just read healing scriptures to her. And as long as he would do that, she would find relief. The pain would back off. And she. She was, you know, she was still bedfast, but she wouldn't be suffering with the pain as. And so as long as he would. As long as he would feed that word, that word would dominate. He had been doing this for a period of time. For days and days and days he'd been ministering to this woman. At one occasion, he said, I need to go home. I'm going to take a bath, shower, clean up, change clothes. I'll be back. Well, while he was gone, the devil takes advantage of people when they're in a weakened condition. And the pain in her escalated while he was gone. And he was within walking distance of her house. So he had walked home to change, he had cleaned up and come back, and he started his trip back to her home. When he's just within blocks of her home, he hears her screaming because the pain is so bad that he can hear her screaming. And the heartbreak of that, the compassion of God welled up on the inside of him. And he didn't walk to her home. He took off running. That's what compassion does. It runs toward needs. It doesn't just treat needs as a casual thing. They take it on as they're. As if it's their own need. And so he took off running to her home. He ran in the front door, ran into her bedroom, and she's laying on the bed screaming. And her body, she was so emaciated, she had lost so much weight. She's just really very. Looks more like a skeleton than a human. And he reached into the bed, wrapped his arms up under her shoulders and scooped him up and scooped her up in his arms and just held her. And he was just weeping with her because he could sense and know of the pain that she was in. But see, it wasn't an emotional weeping. It was this compassion that flowed up from his spirit. See, sympathy doesn't accomplish what compassion accomplishes. Compassion is a divine flow of power. So he scoops her up in his arms, he takes her just the upper part of her body and hugs her close to him. And he's weeping with her. And while he's doing that, and he's just weeping and weeping and weeping, and as he's doing that, he realizes she's growing quiet and all the pain stopped. And not only did the pain stop, she was healed. She was completely raised up. That was worked by compassion. This is what Jesus demonstrated that day, that compassion moved upon him and he could not walk off and leave the situation the same. When compassion shows up, something changes. We need to be more aware of that flow, more compassionate, yielding to that compassion. Amen. So the more we yield to the flow of compassion, the more we will see miracles and healings. Because miracles and healings are in the compassion flow. The compassion for people grows and is nurtured in us by spending time in the presence of God. When we are spending time with God, what's in him flows in us. What he has put in us springs up when we're in his presence. And so many times I think we have to be careful that we don't dismiss this flow of compassion. It was a very prevalent flow of Jesus's earthly ministry. We see it on more than one occasion. Now we understand that the New Testament, the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, that record Jesus earthly ministry, they didn't record everything of Jesus earthly ministry. It was a sampling of what Jesus did. No telling how much compassion worked through his earthly ministry that we have no record of. So as I said, the compassion flow that God has for every one of his people is going to be heightened by spending time in his presence. This is where we start entering into, just by being in the presence of a compassionate God, when we are compassionate toward others, then God can use us in a greater way to bless them. Now, when we're not thoughtful toward people, when we don't really show much interest in the welfare of other people, that then God won't primarily be able to use us to bless them because we're not interested. But when you're interested in others, when you're interested that they receive their need met, when you talk to someone and it's really genuine, when you say, how are you doing? Let me know. It's not just a cordial thing. Of exchange, but you're really interested in that person, then God can use you in a way when you're interested in people, that he can't use people who are uninterested in others. It needs to matter to us how others are doing. It needs to matter to us. In verse 14, it says, and Jesus came and he touched the casket. And they that bear the young man in that casket, they stood still. So we don't really see a big display, do we? He just walks up and he touches it. He doesn't make a big announcement. See, compassion doesn't lead you to put yourself on the stage. It doesn't look to spotlight you. It was a very understated way of ministering this. He just walks up and he touches the casket. And those who are carrying it, they stop movement. And he said. He didn't yell, he didn't scream. He just said, young man, what faith. He's talking to what looks dead. Why? Because in his thinking, they're not dead. They're not beyond reach. And he said, young man, I say to you. He talks to what's dead. Listen, faith talks to what's dead because it knows. It knows who it's believing. He said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. It's an amazing. What a lesson. What a day. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 words change an eternal destiny of this man. A life that's going to be lived out, that wouldn't have been lived out. Seven words. It's not long prayers, it's not long laborings. When you spend time in the presence of God, when you know God's love for people and his heart for people, it's not found in how many words you say. Seven words change this man's future. Hallelujah. He said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. He didn't even lay hands on him. He didn't pray to God. Oh, God, we need a miracle. If you don't do something quick, I mean, he's on his way to be buried. He's not doing anything. He's not doing anything. That is desperate. He's not. He doesn't give off this feeling we're desperate because we're not desperate. We are not a desperate people. I'm not desperate for God. I'm hungry for him, but I'm not desperate. Amen. I am not desperate. He didn't even command the devil. And we know death is an enemy. It doesn't come from God. And we know that this young man's premature death wasn't the will of God. Because Jesus reversed it. If it was God, he wouldn't have reversed it. God had nothing to do with this young man dying prematurely. God has no part in death. No, that's right. He did not. He did not create man for death. He created him for life. He didn't pray. He just gave the faith command. He said to this young man, I say unto thee, arise. He expected dead things to hear him and dead things to obey him. It's amazing the way he thought, the way he knew his father, the way he knew what the Father's power would accomplish. Verse 15. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. He wasn't. He wasn't. He wasn't struggling with the physical abilities. He didn't just come back and his eyes come back and him have to recover with speech and, and stuff over a period of time. He sat up and started talking. And Jesus delivered him to his mother. This all started for compassion for his mother. Why? She is the wife to God. She's a widow. And the Word says God is a husband to the widow. What a scene. In First Corinthians, chapter 12, there are nine gifts or manifestations of the Spirit spoken of to raise the dead. As this happened, to raise the dead, there has to be three of those nine gifts at work. The three gifts that have to be at work in raising the dead is, number one, the gifts of healing. See, this man died of a sickness. He's going to have to get healed or he's going to die again. So it's not enough to raise him, he has to be healed also from that condition so he doesn't die again. So number one, the gifts of healing is operating. Number two, the working of miracles. This is a miracle. Amen. And then the gift of faith has to be in operation all three of these. Anytime someone has been raised from the dead, these three gifts of the Spirit have to be operating. The gift of faith is not the faith that every believer has. Every believer has ordinary faith. But the gift of faith is another faith that comes and meets you when you're exercising all the faith you have. Then another faith comes and it's called the gift of faith. It is a gift of the Spirit. It is not the same as ordinary believer's faith. And when the gift of faith is in operation, you are going to. You know exactly what God's going to do. You don't waver because there's another faith that came and took hold with you. Amen. These gifts of the spirit operate as the Spirit wills, meaning this you can't just go around and raise up dead people without the leading of the Spirit. You have to have the Spirit's involvement. You have to. There was a young. There was a man who was a police officer in our church years ago and he was killed on the. In the line of duty. Well, his wife said to me, I want you to raise him from the dead. Well, I believe in being raised from the dead. Absolutely. But see, I've got to look to the Holy Spirit. What's the Holy Spirit say? Because I can't just desire. Yes, I want him. I don't want him to die. I want the man to live. But I've got to look to the Holy Spirit. Because these three gifts of the Spirit that must be in operation operate as the Spirit wills, not as I will. You can't turn them on and off at will. You can turn your faith on and off because that is your, your, your. Your possession. But these gifts of the Spirit, they're gifts. We don't own them. They're gifts that belong to the Spirit and He will allow them to come into manifestation as he wills, not as we will. In the Bible we see that anytime someone was raised from the dead, they were pre. They. They died young or they had not lived out their life. They might have been middle age, but no one who was ever elderly who had lived out their life do we see being raised from the dead. It was always someone who had not lived out their life yet. Praise the Lord. So in raising the dead you have to have the Spirit's involvement. You can't just go randomly raising people from the dead. Now with your faith you can randomly receive anything you need from God because your faith is yours at your disposal. But these gifts are the Spirit's gifts. They are gifts of the Spirit. And so we have to have His. His involvement, his leading to access these gifts and for them to operate into flow. Amen. So that means we don't just go around anytime someone dies and we start ministering to them. We have to have the Spirit's leading. Amen in verse 16. And there came a few fear on all. And they glorified God saying that a great prophet is risen up among us and that God has visited his people. Can I tell you what? Jesus was God visiting the people, but can I tell you what, What's a visit from God? A God filled man. Do you know that if you're a pastor, if God, if God put a man in a community to start a church, God is visiting that community through that pastor, a God filled man in your midst is a visit from God. And it says in verse 17 and this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea, throughout all the region. Roundabout I want to say this is that his testimony had an effect throughout the whole region of what happened. Amen. Tell people what God's done for you. But I want to tell you this. Miracles are for dead things. Miracles are for dead things. Dead marriages, dead businesses, dead finances, dead relationships, dead health, dead organs, dead limbs. Miracles are for dead things. Amen. Amen. And we need to believe God for miracles. Amen. Because by faith we can restore receive a miracle. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
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