Helping the Brokenhearted
Introduction:
Psalm 147:1-3
“Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and
praise is beautiful. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers
together the outcasts of Israel, He heals the brokenhearted And
binds up their wounds.” NKJV
Theme: Jesus’ plan for helping us helps the broken hearted.
Body:
I.
Allow us to experience pain and
hardship
“Equips us”
II Corinthians 1:3-4
“Grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies
and God of all comfort,” NKJV
A. Let’s us feel what others feel.
Hebrews
10:32-34
“But recall the
former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a
great struggle with suffering: partly while you were made a
spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you
became companions of those who were so treated; for you had
compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering
of your goods; knowing that you have a better and an enduring
possession for yourselves in heaven.” NKJV
Our wounds enable us to feel another person’s pain.
·
“Who can save a child from a burning house without taking the risk
of being hurt by the flames? Who can listen to a story of
loneliness and despair without taking the risk of experiencing
similar pains in his own heart and even losing his precious peace of
mind? In short: Who can take away suffering without entering it?
·
The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out
of the desert by someone who has never been there.”
UNKNOWN SOURCE
B. Our own brokenness gives us credibility.
“Been in their shoes – Walked the road they
have walked” Many in the world have experienced being broken.
·
Broken by life – Life has been hazardous.
·
“Hamlet” –
“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but
in battalions.” Many things may
cause sorrow and grief.
o
Health
Job 2:11-13
“Now when Job’s three
friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one
came from his own place – Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite,
and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment
together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. And when
they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they
lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and
sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him
on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word
to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.” NKJV
o
Children
Proverbs 17:25
“A foolish son
is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her who bore him.” NKJV
o
Not able to have children – Hannah
I Samuel 1 “9
So Hannah arose. . . 10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and
prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. 11 Then she made a vow and
said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of
Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant,
but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to
the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his
head.’ ” NKJV
o
Addiction – drink
Proverbs 23:29-35
“Who has woe?
Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has
wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger
long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look
on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it
swirls around smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent, And
stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, And your
heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who
lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top
of the mast, saying: ‘They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They
have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I
may seek another drink?’ ” NKJV
o
Money
I Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root
of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in
their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
NKJV
o
Death
John 3:36
“He who believes in
the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” NKJV
·
Some are brokenhearted because despair seems to
follow them around. It has become their normal.
·
Some know “the dark night of the soul.”
By experiencing grief and sorrow, we are better able
to help others. Note
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon
Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the
poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty
to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are
bound;” Hebrews 2:17-18 “Now with whom was He angry
forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell
in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not
enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?” NKJV
II.
Allow us to feel as Jesus feels
·
Philippians 1:8
“For God is my
witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus
Christ.”
NKJV
Greek – inward parts were the seat of emotion When you have
overwhelming compassion for someone in need, your “insides” tighten
when you hear of someone’s grief or sorrow.
o
See “affection of Jesus” in the following:
§
Matthew 9:35-36
“Then Jesus
went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every
sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the
multitudes; He was moved with compassion for them, because they were
weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” NKJV
Sheep without a shepherd
§
Mark 8:1-3
“In those
days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat,
Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, ‘I have
compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me
three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry
to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them
have come from afar.’ ” NKJV
Hungry
§
Luke 7:11-15
“Now it
happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and
many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He
came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried
out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large
crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had
compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then He came and
touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And
He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ So he who was dead sat
up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.” NKJV
Death of woman’s son
§
Matthew 9:12-13
“When Jesus
heard that, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick.’ But go and learn what this
means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to
call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” NKJV
Sinners
A.
When we have the heart of Jesus, we
will see as Jesus sees.
“Having Jesus’
heart for people keeps us from turning people in our lives into it
people. You know what I mean by it people. When we treat the bank
teller no differently than we would an ATM machine, we have turned
him into an it. When the cashier who takes our order at a
drive-thru doesn’t even have a face, we’ve turned her into an it.
Sometimes we even live in the same house with it people.
Jesus never met an it person. Jesus noticed
everyone. He had an I – Thou relationship with everyone he met.
Every interaction he had with another person meant something to
Jesus. He didn’t eat a meal and then two minutes later forget the
name of the person who served him. That’s what having Jesus’
splanchna does to us. It sensitizes us to people and their
needs. When we have Jesus’ heart, we see what he sees as if we’re
borrowing his eyes.” UNKNOWN SOURCE
B.
When we have the heart of Jesus, we
will feel as Jesus feels.
· Philippians 2:1-2 “Therefore if there is any
consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any
fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
fulfill my joy by being likeminded, having the same love,
being of one accord, of one mind.” NKJV
“Feeling what Jesus feels. The other thing that happens as
you pray to have the compassion of Jesus is that he will
allow you to feel what he feels for people in pain.
Frederick Buechner once said, ‘Compassion is the sometimes
fatal capacity for feeling what it’s like to live inside
somebody else’s skin. It is the knowledge that there can
never really be any peace and joy for me until there is
peace and joy finally for you too.’ That’s what it’s like
to have Jesus’ heart for people.” UNKNOWN SOURCE
Conclusion:
The brokenhearted
are all around us, needing our compassion. The grief and sorrow you
may have experienced enables you to better help those in need. But
remember a brighter day awaits.
Isaiah 51:11
“So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with
singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy
and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 25:8
“He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away
tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away
from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.” NKJV
God’s people, the
ransomed are bought with a price: The Blood of Our Lord.
I Peter
2:21-25
“For to this you were
called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, Nor was
deceit found in His mouth;’ who, when He was reviled, did not revile
in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed
Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in
His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live
for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed. For you were
like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and
Overseer of your souls.” NKJV
Bobby Stafford
January 10, 2016 [Evening]
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