Sermon Central
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Looking For Wounded People
Contributed by Niles Lloyd on Feb 18, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: JESUS - THE GREAT PHYSICIAN SPENT HIS LIFE IN SEARCH OF WOUNDED PEOPLE. SO IN THE SOCIETY WE ARE LIVING IN TODAY WITH MILLIONS OF WOUNDED PEOPLE, WE NEED TO LOOK FOR THEM SO AS TO MEET THEIR NEEDS.
TITLE: LOOKING FOR WOUNDED PEOPLE 12/22/02
TEXT: PSALM 147:1 – 3
INTRO:
IN OUR TEXT BEFORE US TONIGHT WE SEE THE LORD DOING SOME 3 DIFFERENT THINGS. WE SEE HIM –
1. GATHERING OUTCASTS
2. HEALING BROKEN HEARTS
3. BINDING UP WOUNDS
THAT IS A PICTURE OF THE MINISTRY OF OUR LORD. HE IS ALWAYS ABOUT THAT BUSINESS, GATHERING UNTO HIMSELF OUTCASTS, HEALING BROKEN HEARTS AND BINDING UP THEIR WOUNDS.
TONIGHT, I WANT US TO CONCERN OURSELF WITH THE THOUGHT OF LOOKING FOR WOUNDED PEOPLE.
ILL. DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, A CERTAIN NURSE WAS THE SUBJECT OF MUCH DISCUSSION. AFTER A BATTLE SHE WOULD WANDER AWAY FROM THE MEDICAL CAMP ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD ITSELF. SOMETIMES SHE WOULD PERSONALLY DRAG IN A SOLDIER WHO WAS IN DESPERATE NEED OF MEDICAL ATTENTION. MORE THAN ONCE SHE WAS REPRIMANDED BY THE DOCTORS. THEY TOLD HER SHE HAD NO BUSINESS ON THE BATTLEFIELD. NOT ONLY THAT, SHE EVEN BROUGHT IN VIET CONG SOLDIERS ALONG WITH THE AMERICANS.
ONE DAY AFTER A BIG BATTLE AN OFFICER SAW HER ON THE BATTLEFIELD AMID ALL THE SUFFERING, DYING AND DEATH. HE BEGAN TO REBUKE HER: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THAT BATTLEFIELD?" SHE SAID WITHOUT HESITATION, "I’M LOOKING FOR THE WOUNDED. THAT’S WHAT I AM HERE FOR."
WHEN I READ THAT STORY I WAS REMINDED OF THE FACT THAT YOU AND I AS CHRISTIANS HAVE THE SAME JOB. WE ARE TO BE LOOKING FOR WOUND-ED PEOPLE.
WHEN WE GOT SAVED, CHRIST COULD HAVE INSTANTLY TAKEN ALL OF US TO HEAVEN – BUT HE DIDN’T. INSTEAD CHRIST LEFT US HERE TO GO OUT AND LOOK FOR WOUNDED PEOPLE.
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
WHAT’S HE SAYING? "GO! LOOK FOR THE WOUNDED!"
OUR PRIMARY JOB IS TO LOOK FOR WOUNDED PEOPLE. WE ARE TO GO OUT INTO THE BATTLEFIELDS OF THIS WORLD AND FIND THEM AND BRING THEM TO THE GREAT PHYSICIAN WHO CAN HEAL AND BIND UP THEIR WOUNDS; THEN WE ARE TO SEND THEM OUT INTO THE BATTLE FIELDS TO DO THE SAME.
WHERE DID THE WAR BEGIN? WHERE DID THESE PEOPLE RECEIVE THEIR WOUNDS? FOR THE ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS, WE GO BACK TO THE GARDEN OF EDEN. THERE WE SEE THAT MAN WAS FIRST OF ALL -
I. WOUNDED BY SATAN GENESIS 2:7
HERE GOD MADE MAN, GAVE HIM INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT WHAT HE COULD AND COULD NOT DO. BUT ALONG CAME SATAN WITH HIS TRICKS AND LIES AND TEMPTED MAN TO SIN. AND HERE IN THE MIDST OF PERFECTION, IN THE MIDST OF WONDERFUL BLISS, THE FIRST BATTLE WOUNDS WERE RECEIVED!
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
YOU KNOW THE STORY, BOTH ADAM AND EVE ATE OF THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT – THEY HAD BEEN WOUNDED BY SATAN. NOW ADAM WAS –
· NAKED, STRIPPED OF EVERY RIGHTEOUS RAG.
· HE IS BLIND NOW.
· SATAN HAS GOUGED OUT THE EYES OF HIS SOUL AND LEFT HIM IN DARKNESS. HE IS SEPARATED NOW.
· NO LONGER DOES HE HAVE UNINTERUPTED FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
· INSTEAD, WE FIND ADAM TRYING TO HIDE FROM GOD
BUT THEN GOD WALKED ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD.
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
WHAT WAS GOD DOING? HE WAS LOOKING FOR WOUNDED PEOPLE! ADAM AND EVE HAD BEEN WOUNDED BY SATAN BUT GOD WAS READY TO HEAL THEIR WOUNDS. HE FOUND THEM, TOOK AWAY THEIR FIG LEAVES AND THEN CLOTHED THEM WITH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS CHRIST.
BUT FOLKS, THAT BATTLE DID NOT END THERE. THAT BATTLE BEGAN TO SPREAD UNTIL EVENTUALLY EVERYONE ON THE EARTH HAD BEEN WOUNDED. THINK ABOUT IT THERE ARE PEOPLE ALL OVER TODAY WHO HAVE BEEN -
II. WOUNDED BY SIN ROMANS 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
MY FRIEND THAT SIN OF REBELLION AGAINST GOD THAT TOOK PLACE WAY BACK IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN BEGAN IS STILL AFFECTING MEN AND WOMEN TODAY.
ILL. I WAS WATCHING A NEWSCAST SOMETIME AGO THAT SHOWED POLICE OFFICERS AS THEY WERE INVOLVED IN A HIGH SPEED CHASE WITH A DRUNK DRIVER. IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON AS THIS MAN HAD LEFT THE BAR DRUNK, GOT INTO HIS CAR AND BEGAN TO DRIVE LIKE A WILDMAN. TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, THIS DRUNKEN MAN CAME AROUND A CURB AT A HIGH SPEED HE COULDN’T HANDLE IN HIS CONDITION AND SLAMMED INTO A ONCOMING CAR HEADON FILLED WITH A WOMAN AND CHILDREN. WHAT THAT DRUNKEN MAN DID NOT KNOW WAS THE FACT THAT HE HAD JUST KILLED HIS WIFE AND 3 KIDS!
OH, I GOT TO THINKING, I WONDER IF THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF GOD’S PEOPLE WOULD HAVE BEEN OUT ON SATURDAY SOUL-WINNING LOOKING FOR THOSE WHO HAD BEEN WOUNDED BY SIN!
