How to find inner healing

[0:00] Talking about healing, healing, help for the hurting. Here's a church sign, we love hurting people.

[0:15] ! Now of course we know what they meant to say, but the sad fact is that some churches hurt people.! And that is not at all funny, really. It's a very sad thing really, isn't it?

[0:30] And people hurt people, and hurting people are all around us in our lives, aren't they? We don't always realise it. Let me assure you of this one truth today, that Jesus heals. Amen?

[0:45] Jesus heals. Some carry deep internal wounds. Now some of the nearest and dearest to me have been deeply hurt and suffered real abuse to a significant degree, and some of the worst abuse and grief imaginable.

[1:02] And as a church we love people who are hurting, don't we? Don't we? Or don't we? Love them. I tell you today that Jesus heals hearts that are broken.

[1:16] And this scripture tells us, Psalm 147 verse 3, He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. You can find that heart healing. If that's you, He wants to heal you. And we are in a fight. There's a whole lot of spiritual warfare going on.

[1:37] People get hurt. And we're in the thick of it. We can expect wounds and battle scars, can't we? We all have those times. And many are left feeling broken and hurting by what they've gone through.

[1:49] People get damaged and bruised. And we can get a wounded spirit. Like Brother Doug's mission of healing the wounded spirit, the verse that is core for their ministry is Proverbs 18 verse 14.

[2:05] The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit, who can bear? So I want you to know that the Lord extends His healing. He's the ultimate healer, isn't He?

[2:19] He heals us from the inside out. He can heal the deepest trauma and abuse and hurt. And He is for you. He is with you. Here's another scripture that puts it, Psalm 34 verses 17 through 18.

[2:34] It says, It's saying that the Lord is near to you.

[2:53] In time of trouble. The Lord is near to you when you're hurting. When you've got a broken heart. And life can wound us, can't it? Life can wound us trauma. We can all have trauma of different kinds.

[3:08] I've been fairly trauma free, I think pretty much. I've been very much, except some strong disciplinarian bringing up my father. And I needed it. No, but honestly, thankfully I've not really known much of that.

[3:24] But I know amongst us, people have suffered many things and that's not to make light of it today. There's real trauma and abuse. There's deep hurts and they're deep inside pain, aren't they?

[3:34] Deep, deep wounds. And God sees your wounded heart today. And we can all suffer hurt. Even from churches and pastors. Situations of manipulation and control. And there's a warning to pastors in Jeremiah 23 verse 1.

[3:49] Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, save the Lord. Now some pastors sadly, instead of being shepherds, they hurt the sheep. It says they destroy the sheep. And that's a sad thing, isn't it?

[4:04] Pastors meant to be a shepherd. I want to be a better shepherd to you. Some people have lost hope. They carry deep scars and wounds on their soul, their mind.

[4:14] Their hearts are healed. Things like that, aren't they? Things from our past. We could think back, what's happened to me? We still remember those dark days, those tough times. Our spirit can be crushed. Where can we find God's healing when we're feeling like that?

[4:29] We can find it by grace, people. It's by grace. Grace is central. It's central in the word of God, isn't it? It's the word of his grace, the grace of God. It avails today for everyone. It puts their trust in him.

[4:42] The grace of God. It's real. And we can know that today. Find in him your healing today. By grace, he extends it. And God in grace, he hears our hearts cry when we're wounded.

[4:53] The psalmist cries, O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. Psalm 30 verse 2. He just wants to hear your hearts cry. He wants you to call out to him and ask him.

[5:09] God's grace can help us to recover from all the pain and trauma that we've ever been through. Now, sometimes we might lock it away and hide it away, but every so often it comes to the surface. Something scratches the surface and it comes out, doesn't it? The hurt that we feel.

[5:25] God can take it away. He can take it away by his grace. And God offers healing for the wounded soul. People today, God offers healing. Are you wounded? And staying there, you don't have to.

[5:38] It's by his grace we can find that way out. We can find that strength. In our weakness, we can find his power. His healing. We can find hope in our despair. We can find redemption in our brokenness. And our hope for restoration and healing. It's by the grace of God. It's like salvation, isn't it?

[5:59] It's his grace that extends healing. And his grace is so boundless and unwavering. It's so constant to you. And you might think, well, where was God when I was in that pain? He's going to help you through it.

[6:10] He's going to help you get over it. He's going to help you find victory. Sometimes we can't help what's happened in the past, but we can make the best of it as we move forward, can't we, in faith.

[6:22] Can I urge you today, don't waste a heartbeat of your life. Don't waste a heartbeat of your life by hanging on to what God can take away from you. Can I urge you, we can refresh our relationship with God.

[6:36] It's grace, isn't it? It's where relationship with God starts. The grace of God, we don't deserve it. We're unworthy of it from beginning to end. And that relationship with God, we can know that truly.

[6:49] That healing relationship, that grace of God, we can find that today. And we can overcome evil with good. We can counteract the hurt by moving on in faith, moving forward and leaving that behind us, leaving that behind. Let me be real with you today.

[7:04] I have been there myself. My wife and I, we suffered deep hurt from a church many long years ago. People would know that I used to write a little Christian newsletter called Fair Dinkum magazine.

[7:17] And in March 1990, this was before we were in the independent Baptist movement. My wife and I, we were living in a remote town, Mount Isa, a remote country town. And we came to realize that the church that we were in had cultic practices. It was a church of seeming friendliness. They kind of love bombed you.

[7:38] Yet in time, we came to see how the freedom was stifled. And families were divided against each other. And material was censored. And people were isolated, controlled. There was extreme domination and covenant agreements, they called it. And emotional manipulation. And the leadership was authoritarian, very heavy handed. And they demanded unquestioning obedience. And they laid heavy demands on people. And anyone who didn't conform was branded an outcast.

[8:12] And friendships were broken. And this is what happened to Julie and me. And it was heart-rending stuff. It was gut-wrenching. We had to leave. And when we left, we lost all our friends. And a small country town, remote from our hometown of Adelaide, that was hard on Julie. It was gut-wrenching.

[8:29] And we suffered internal injuries, you could say. So we can identify with people who've been there, going through that. People who've been hurt, feeling wounded from experiences of churches, of pastors, past trauma. I want to tell you this morning that, thank God, healing is possible. Healing is possible. And we don't have to stay there. I commend to you this morning the great heart doctor, the Lord Jesus today. He wants to heal you. And in finding release and liberty, we can know His grace.

[8:59] We can also know the truth of liberty. That's where God is, who God is. We see that in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 17. It reads, now the Lord is that spirit. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

[9:14] Amen. The Lord wants to set His people free. It's His mission. And John 8, we see our Lord talks about the truth that sets people free. It said, Jesus said to those Jews which believed on Him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Our Redeemer says, let my people go. That was what the Pharaoh was told, wasn't it? Let my people go.

[9:45] We don't want to stay there in Egypt. And we can know a glorious liberty, glorious liberty the Bible talks about. Even in the midst of pain and struggle, we can know a liberty. In Galatians 5.1, it says that we can stand fast therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Now when we see the freedom that we have in Christ as children of God, there's a glorious liberty, isn't there? We don't have to stay in any kind of bondage situation, any kind of enslavement, but we're truly set free. He takes the shackles off, doesn't he? And we see bondage for what it is, and we don't go back there. And in Christ there's no condemnation, no condemnation.

[10:31] Instead of condemnation, there's a true liberty. And the Lord Jesus, He brings comfort and peace, and rest to the soul. He says, come unto me, what does he bring? Rest, rest to your souls. Sometimes it's all about striving, about working, but truly it's about rest. It's peace. It's finding His peace, isn't it?

[10:50] And it's by His grace. We can know that liberty in Christ. And it's Christ in you that is that healing, that is your healing. When you think about, He was wounded for our transgressions. By His stripes we are healed. There's a healing because of everything that He is to us, a wholeness that He is. It's His presence, isn't it? And we draw strength from that. When you think of Psalm 23, as it describes the good shepherd, as it describes the Lord. The Lord is my pastor. The Lord is my shepherd. He's the ultimate, isn't He? And it says, He's the good shepherd. He restores my soul. He restores my soul. He leads His people beside the still waters. And Psalm 42 tells about the soul thirsting for God, to seek after God, to want Him, to long for Him, like a deer would pant for the water. Psalm 42, it says, as the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? It's talking there about this thirsting, this hungering. And when we make that connection with our Lord, when we know His great satisfaction, the satisfaction that is Christ, that completeness that is Christ, we can reach out and touch Him today.

[12:10] And one Bible example we could think of the woman, diseased with an issue of blood, it says in Matthew 9 20, she came behind Him and touched the hem of His garment. It was just that touch of faith. And she said within herself, if I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about and when He saw her, He said, Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. Now the Lord Jesus, He wants us to be made whole. We can find that wholeness in that relationship with Him as we come to know Him and find His purpose and walk in that. As we seek after His presence through prayer, through His word, through worship, through meditation, we can know His presence. And we can find His love, His love that brings healing today. Think of the love of God, the grace of God, the wonder of His love. It brings healing, doesn't it? That He loves us even when we're not worthy of His love. He's full of compassion. And think of the unfailing love that God would so love you, so love the world to give His only begotten Son to take your place. That unfailing love, it extends that gift of redemption, of healing, of restoration, of security to the soul.

[13:38] And our Lord's church is meant to be a haven, a hospital, where the wounded, the hurt, the injured, and the broken can find healing. That's the kind of church we want to be. Amen. A haven, a hospital.

[13:51] A haven, a hospital. And the great love of God is here. It's boundless. It's free. It's fulsome. And because of His love, there's hope today that the foulest can be made clean. The most broken can be made whole and find healing and eternal freedom. And we think of the fruit of the Spirit. Friends, it's as you come, like that woman by faith would come and simply reach out and touch the hem of his garment. By faith, touch him today. And he says, you shall be made whole. You see, the fruit of the Spirit is love. It's all there. It springs from love. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. As we yield to the Holy Spirit, God's love cultivates all these things. It brings it all to fruition, doesn't it? And it all springs from His love. His love to you. Such that we'll bear that fruit too in our lives. Think of it, friends, today.

[14:55] We think of, and I've worked in healthcare. The ultimate healthcare is God's care, isn't it? The ultimate healthcare, the ultimate healer is God. It's not a hospital. It's not a doctor of men.

[15:06] But it's the great physician. The healer of the soul, isn't it? He brings hope and healing. And His love extends it to you. And what's more, you can be a carrier of it. Such that not only can you receive His love, but you can impart it. His love. You can be a carrier of that love. Try to be kinder, to be more compassionate. God can help you. He's helping me be that way, I trust. We see another aspect of God's healing is His very Word. His very Word is health to us, isn't it? And when we think of the precious 66 books that we hold in the cover of our Bible, it's jam-packed with the exceeding great and precious promises of God, isn't it? And His Word is healing. We see in Proverbs 4 verse 20, the writer says, My son, attend to my words. Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. It says, keep these words. It says, hide them in your heart. His Word is life.

[16:15] Amen. His Word is life. It's healing. It's health to the soul. And we can all get caught up in internal struggle and start to lose perspective on what matters. And what is that? It's people. People matter, isn't it? People need the Lord. God wants us to learn grace and compassion such that we can be extending that for others. And we can find healing for the hurting in the Word of God. And we can give that to others too. You can communicate His Word. Speak the Word to yourself and speak the Word to others.

[16:48] The healing Word of God. Cling to God's promises. Claim them. Make them your own in that time of hardship, in time of struggle. They're even more precious then, aren't they? They're even more real, aren't they?

[17:00] The Word of God. As you go through the tough times of life, you can anchor yourself in the timeless truths of Scripture. These words, these words, these 2,000 plus year old words are still totally relevant, aren't they? For the very time we live and beyond. They'll help you more than AI, than Google.

[17:22] The answer's there. It's not in your phone. It's in the Word. Amen? It's in the Word. And we can speak the Word. And it says of the Word of God, it says He sent His Word and He healed them and delivered them from their destructions. We think of the Word of God as healing in the Word of God because it's full of His promises, full of the strength that we can draw from Him, of His faithfulness, of His love, of His mercy, of His provision for His people. And we can find His comfort, His strength and healing to the wounded soul. So I'd urge you today, even if you just take some little skerricks of what I'm saying to you, to grab a hold of the Word of God and let that be a resource. Now go to Dr. Jesus and His prescriptions are all here in the pages of His Word. Amen? Everything that you need for life and healing for your soul, the faithfulness of God, His promises, His love, the certainty of His promises, and the empowerment that He wants to give to you to be His children, the children of God, to live with authenticity, with integrity, with purpose. As you immerse yourself in the Word of God, as you let it have that cleansing. It talks about the washing of the water by the Word. There's a washing there.

[18:42] There's an assurance there. From all the words of Scripture, we can find our comfort, our strength, and especially in times of suffering and distress. Here's another comfort that we have.

[18:56] It's the very Father of mercies, the God of all comfort. That's His very name. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort where we ourselves are comforted of God. So God's comfort brings comfort and peace to our soul when we're feeling wounded, and we can communicate that on to others too. Isn't that wonderful? To know that you have all the resources yourself to comfort others. It's in His Word.

[19:35] Sometimes we can make the mistake of getting all caught up in the hamster wheel, of it all being about works, about working. You know, I can make that mistake, or burdening people, pressuring people to come to meetings. If you want to come to the meeting, you'll be there, because you'll want to be there. Come out of wanting to, not out of duty, out of obligation, out of the pastor harassing you, or hounding you, chasing you down. But come because you want to, because you're hunger and thirst, because you've got to desire, you've got to delight, because you want to. And sometimes we can make the mistake, I know as preachers we can make the mistake of going on over much about works. Of course there is needful works, but it's not about working, it's about resting. Ultimately it's about resting, isn't it?

[20:24] To enter into His rest, that's the ultimate. To enter into His rest. And that's salvation, isn't it? The ultimate rest. And the one who is our Sabbath, He Himself is our rest. We enter into Him.

[20:37] We get rest for our souls. That's what we need. So it's not about activity and busyness and service and works for the sake of it, it's finding His rest. And there's an assurance there, there's a blessing there, to find that rest. And then when we're in His rest, what can we do but love Him and want to please Him and be about His work? But ultimately it's about finding His rest and there's a comfort there. And what God works in us enables us to minister to others who are hurting. Because sometimes we can, I know I can, make the mistake of being a bit of a selfish Christian. But I believe that the more mature that we grow as a born-again Christian, God will help us to have less of a selfish attitude. Because it's not about me, it's about Him. Isn't it? It's about Him and it's about others too. I love the acronym, you know, J-O-Y, Jesus first, others, then yourself last, isn't it? It's kind of getting that order right, isn't it? Because it's not about me, it's about Him, it's about others. God will bless me as I minister to others, as I care about others, as we extend compassion to others. Because there's wounded people all around us.

[21:55] There's many people wounded. We think, I don't know what the figures are of how many people have suffered some trauma or abuse, as we heard through Doug Carriger's ministry, but it's quite telling figures, isn't it? In a gathering of this size, there's many of us that are wounded.

[22:10] We get wounded along life's journey, but there's healing for you. There's healing for you. And we can overcome the hurt. We might feel hurt. We might feel an offence, a stumbling block.

[22:24] There might be some wedge in relationships, and relationships that matter. But we can do our part to get rid of the wedge. Whatever's stopping us from that fellowship, from communication.

[22:36] We can turn around and bless others who are also the walking wounded. It's getting outside of our own skin and thinking about, as the Lord looked out and He saw the people and He saw the needs that they had. He saw that they were struggling. He saw that they were sheep without a shepherd. He saw that they needed compassion and understanding and support.

[22:59] So friends, today, as this haven, as this hospital, we're all in this together. To walk together in the light of God's Word, knowing His love and bearing it to others, carrying it, that hope, that healing, that redemption that is Christ. To have the grace to move forward with hope and resilience, to touch the hem of His garment and know His strengthening, His touch.

[23:26] Know His wholeness today. Because friends, in God's hands, our brokenness can be transformed into beauty. Our brokenness can be actually the making of us. We can know God's healing from past hurts. We can overcome those things. The heartache could be spiritual abuse, loss.

[23:49] You know, it's sad when some people, they get hurt by church as such that they stop fellowshipping. That's real, isn't it? I know people like that. They've been out of church for years, literally years and years and years. Somebody said something, the pastor did something, the church didn't do something or did do something and they've got this huge sadness about them.

[24:13] Friends, we can overcome. We can walk with God. We can see churches and pastors and other believers are just humans. They make mistakes. They do silly things. They say the wrong things.

[24:29] But we can overcome. You can overcome. You can know God's saving grace. You can know God's healing touch. Reach out and touch Him today. And another big thing too is getting that eternal purpose. Really, it's that eternal purpose. It's a bit like what Michael was saying earlier that really it's about that eternity in view, isn't it? All of the trappings and goings on of earth, these are just temporary things. This is just days. But eternity is just ahead.

[25:00] And it's easy to get stuck, you know. We need that whole new eternal perspective. Realise time's flying by, isn't it? I was just thinking, well, it's only 32 weeks till the NBF.

[25:15] There's only so many days, only so many weeks until, bang, we're there. It's right there. But if we get an internal perspective on life, as we see people as eternal souls, as we see eternities rushing towards us, as we see the sand in our hourglass is running out, we realise eternity is more important than the temporal things that we get stuck in, don't we? It's easy to get stuck. You know, it talks about run the race with patience, looking unto Jesus.

[25:49] And, you know, you're there at the starting blocks and the starter's pistol goes off, bang, and oh, those feet are really heavy. It's like they've got lead in those shoes that you're wearing. And it says to get those heavy, those weights, and get rid of them. You know, that's what we need to do. We need to get rid of the weights, don't we? Sometimes there's weights.

[26:19] There's the sin that does so easily beset, there's weights. We need to lose those things that are making us stuck. Amen? And Paul tells the Galatians, who hindered you? You were running so well.

[26:37] What's stopping you? What stopped you? Something happened and the weight is dragging you down, whatever it is. Remember Lot's wife? She got stuck, didn't she? She got stuck. God can help you get unstuck. Amen? And it's when we fix our eyes on what lies ahead. We see the Lord there.

[27:02] We see Jesus and we're looking unto him. We see the finishing line and it's not that far away. It's just days. And we can fix our eyes on him, people. Don't fix your eyes on people.

[27:16] People will disappoint you. But Jesus will not. Jesus will not. Amen? And so it says in 2 Corinthians 4.16, for which cause we faint not?

[27:30] The things that make us faint, we don't have to faint. Because even though our outward man perish, I know every time I look in the mirror there's a new line. There's less hair, there's more grey hair.

[27:42] The inward man is renewed day by day, isn't it? The outward man perish, but the inward man's renewed day by day.

[27:54] Now, some of you are celebrating an anniversary of a wedding. And you think, it's another year older. Another year has gone by. Year after year.

[28:06] And the youthfulness will fade away, but the inward man, the inward man is renewed day by day, isn't it?

[28:17] And it says, for our light affliction is but for a moment. It worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. That's the weight we want.

[28:29] And while we're not looking at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

[28:40] What am I saying? Sometimes we get so focused and stuck on what we can see. On the temporary. This is all temporary. Like a hundred years from now, this building will probably be crumbled into the dust.

[28:53] A hundred years from now, the house that you're putting all your time and effort into is going to fade away. And it's not going to belong to you anymore. So what does it matter?

[29:05] I mean, you think about the temporary things we get so caught up in. It's about the eternal. That's what matters, isn't it? Eternal souls. It's about eternal things. Think about the eternal promises of God.

[29:18] Lay hold on them today. Draw strength from Him. And place your trust in God's plan. He can turn your tests into blessings. We see that in James 1, 12.

[29:30] It says, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation. For when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. So it's telling us there that there's a blessing from enduring tests and adversity.

[29:43] It actually makes us stronger. You know, the strong people are the ones who've been through it. You see that, don't you? The great power of God avails today.

[29:55] And get beyond the present, the temporary, the self, to think about eternity, about eternal souls all around you. And we see in Galatians 6, verse 2, it says, it's encouraging Christians to bear one another's burdens.

[30:11] Bear one another's burdens. Do we stop and think, what's his burden? What's her burden? Or worried about our own burden?

[30:24] The Christian life is thinking about one another, isn't it? It's about caring for one another. Bear one another's burdens, so fulfill the law of Christ. So in other words, be an encourager. See someone who's downcast and give them an encouragement.

[30:39] Step outside of your own skin and think about others. God's designed his church to be a hospital. And you and me, we're the doctors and nurses.

[30:52] I know there's some nurses amongst us, retired nurses. You are the nurses. You are the doctors. You are the wounded healers sometimes.

[31:02] That even in your hurting, you can heal others. You can help others. That God's church will be a place of love, of consideration, of exaltation, of edification, of comfort, of encouragement.

[31:16] As we see, God pictures it here in Hebrews 10. What is it for? To provoke. To stir up unto love and good works.

[31:28] Exhorting one another. So God wants his church to be a sweet fellowship. And we can be healers. It's a haven. It's a hospital for healing. And we love the hurting people.

[31:44] We love them. Don't we? You know, sometimes we get people called. We're always getting these calls from different situations. And there's hurt.

[31:54] There's hurt in their voices. They're all around us, people. They need a home, a spiritual home. They need love. And you are the ones who are going to love them.

[32:05] Amen? It's not all about one man. It's about the body, isn't it? A sweet fellowship that we can be. That compassionate community. To support one another.

[32:16] Look out for one another. To find the power to forgive. And overlook things. It says, forbear one another in love.

[32:28] In other words, yeah, they did you wrong, but forbear. Forbear. God will help you to forbear. In other words, put up with each other, I suppose.

[32:42] Put up with me, please. Now, we think our faith is not a list of things to do. As if that's what makes us more spiritual. Sometimes we can make that mistake. It's all about what we do, do, do.

[32:55] It's about who we are. It's not a works-based system, but it's a God-based life, isn't it? I look back and I've been in situations where the pastor was probably a bit demanding, authoritative.

[33:11] It's not about works and law, but it's about truth. It's about relationship with God. And when we have that right, the other things will fall into place.

[33:23] We can know the grace and love of God as we draw close to him. So our trust is not in some kind of system of trying to keep regulations by our own power, because we're going to fail.

[33:34] And keeping regulations in order to earn God's favour, that's vain. You cannot. But it's about knowing Jesus, isn't it? It's about knowing God.

[33:46] It's about knowing him. Him to know his life eternal. And you might have heard and experienced religion, churches, and such systems of religiosity.

[33:58] They don't cut it. It's not about that. It's about knowing Jesus. It's about knowing him. And we see, as we come to know the Lord as our saviour, we come to know the gracious goodness of God to our soul.

[34:11] And we can cry like the psalmist cried, bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies.

[34:28] What's it telling you there, dear saint? Bless the Lord. Tell your soul, bless the Lord, O my soul. Love Jesus. Praise him. Give him glory. Bless the Lord, dear saint.

[34:39] Get your praise back. Get your praise back. Sometimes it's hard to praise him when we don't feel like it. But it's not about how you feel, is it?

[34:51] It's about who he is. And if the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed. There's a great joy that we can know. And it's not a put-on thing. It's not plastic smiles.

[35:02] It's not faking it. Pretends. There's a real joy, a true joy, a liberating joy. You see, Isaiah, it says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.

[35:16] He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison, to them that are bound. There's a lot of pictures there, isn't there? Brokenhearted captives, people that are chained.

[35:29] It reads on, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn. It talks about appointing to them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes.

[35:44] Think of that. The ashes of our life, He gives us beauty. We see the mourning, He gives us the oil of joy.

[35:55] We see the spirit of heaviness, He gives us the garment of praise. That we might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.

[36:06] You know, there's a lot there we could really just unpack some of that. But the point is that God's spirit draws us out of heaviness to find praise.

[36:19] It draws us out of darkness to find His light, His love, His joy. Out of dreariness to find hope. We see Luke 4, 18, as our Lord relates this further of His mission.

[36:31] We see God's great saving power. Friends, God's saving power can heal the most sin-seek soul. You might say, Preacher, you don't know how much I'm a sinner. Well, I want to tell you how much He's a saviour.

[36:44] How much He's a saviour. Tell you how much His grace is sufficient. Tell you how much His grace abounds to the foulest. The foulest can be made clean. The most sin-seek soul can be set free and made a ransomed child of God, made a saint.

[37:02] And the deepest wounds of the soul He can heal. There's nothing too deep a wound that He cannot heal. We see our Lord says here, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

[37:16] He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. That's important there. Check your Bible. If that's not in there, you've got the problem. But it's in the King James. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted.

[37:27] That's important because that's His mission. He's come to heal the brokenhearted. To preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind. To set at liberty them that are bruised. Our Lord specifically tells us here, He's come to heal the brokenhearted.

[37:41] You know, how often do you often hear on the news sometimes, someone's been in an accident, and what do they say? He or she died from internal injuries.

[37:53] Internal injuries. We don't always see that. People might look all okay on the outside, but deep down there's something inside.

[38:05] There's a hurt. There's a wound. There's walking wounded all around us, people. And sometimes we don't realise it. You might think, oh, they look okay. They seem all fine and dandy, but no.

[38:16] There's something there that they've got to hurt. And some have been hurt by so-called friendly fire. What others have said, pastors, churches, other Christians, they have internal injuries.

[38:32] You know, do something for God and people start attacking you. I can relate to that. Maybe that's true of you. Internal injuries. Let it go, brother. Let it go, sister.

[38:44] I think a lot of damage has been done by abusive churches. Abusive pastors. Spiritual abuse is a reality. There's whole books on it. Spiritual abuse. You can be healed.

[38:56] There's a lot of damaged people. But you can't see the injury, the offence. It's internal. I assure you this morning, saying that God can restore what is broken.

[39:08] And God can bring beauty out of your ashes. Even in those most traumatic memories that you have. I know there's some that talk about healing of the memories and whatnot. But the simple truth is that Jesus heals.

[39:22] The most tender, the most hurtful of wounds. Those deep internal wounds. And we can know an inner healing. So friends, today, what am I saying?

[39:36] I guess I'm really just trying to encourage you that if you're in that place, you can know God's touch today. You can reach out to the hem of his garment. And even when you're hurting, even when there's things that have happened to you that are very deep and hurtful.

[39:52] And it could be things that put you off God even. Put you off church even. It's not God. He's the healer.

[40:03] He's the one who wants to heal you. And we can rekindle the fire. Our zeal. You see some people, it seems like the fire's gone out.

[40:14] Or it's just sputtering. Little ashes. He can re-spark it. He can fan it into flame. He can rekindle it. Just let him.

[40:25] Let him. We can renew our mind. We can return to our first love. You think of how we were when we got saved. And maybe it's not so we're not feeling so.

[40:38] We can go back to that first love. We can refresh. We can reset. Press the reset. We can rewire our thinking. We can refresh our spiritual life.

[40:49] Our devotion. We can let go of what's stopping us from growing. I love how David says, and after his most grievous sin, he says, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.

[41:03] And uphold me with thy free spirit. He can restore the joy. He wants you to have that joy back. That humility that we can know in leaning on him.

[41:17] It helps us to depend on him. When we realise we need him. We humble ourselves, don't we? And so, lay hold on the promises of God today.

[41:29] Here's another promise to wind up with today. It says, Isaiah 41 verse 10. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee.

[41:40] Yea, I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. We've been talking about healing today.

[41:54] Really, the ultimate healing is for your soul to be saved. I've been really addressing Christians here today.

[42:06] And trying to encourage believers here today. You might say, preacher, I don't think I'm there yet. I'm not sure that I'm saved. Trust him.

[42:21] Trust him. Believe. Find his forgiveness. Find his grace to take your sin. Find his love to pay for your sin.

[42:32] That it was paid there in full at the cross. Every sin. All your guilt and shame. All your unworthiness. The foulness of it. The exceeding sinfulness of your sin.

[42:48] He's done everything to save you from it. To give you salvation. And the ultimate healing is really to be saved, isn't it? To know the saviour. That's wholeness.

[42:58] That's wholeness. Because your spirit, soul and body is saved. He saves all three. By his grace. You can find his healing. You can find his healing. And if you're a wounded believer.

[43:09] Friends, I've been there. You know, loved ones of mine have been there. Great grief and heartache. Trauma. A wounded spirit.

[43:19] You can find healing and joy. It's his heart for you. To know his wholeness. He can take our brokenness and replace it. And turn it into wholeness. So, friends, just to wrap up where we've come from this morning.

[43:33] We see the great love of God. He's the one who is the great burden bearer. And we can receive his healing. It's by grace.

[43:46] We don't deserve him to do anything for us. By grace we receive it. And receiving it, we know liberty. He sets us free. There's no burden. There's no bondage.

[43:56] There's no expectation. It's rest. It's liberty. And it's his presence too. That his presence is with you.

[44:08] All the time. His presence does not leave you. You don't visit his presence when you come to church. And then leave it behind when you go home. No.

[44:19] His presence is with you. And his word is a resource to us. Such that it's jam-packed with all of the promises of God. His word.

[44:30] And he sent his word and he healed them. If you need healing, go to the word. Unpack the promises and make them yours. Claim them. Speak the word to your own soul. And speak it to others.

[44:41] Such that you can be a passer-on of his love. And so the comfort that you've received, you can comfort others with too. You can counsel and encourage others.

[44:51] It's your mission. If you choose to accept it. It's to be a carrier of his love to others. And get that eternal perspective too. So that you're not all caught up in the here and now.

[45:04] Or getting stuck. Like Lot's wife. Leave that behind. Go forward in faith. The eternal perspective.

[45:14] To realise eternal souls are living all around you. And have eternity in view. When you live your life. Such that the grievances that you bear against others.

[45:26] It's just an eye blink. It's an eye blink. The hurts that they've hurt you with. It's an eye blink. A moment. In contrast with eternity, isn't it?

[45:39] Let's pray. Dear Lord, we love you and praise you. That your grace is sufficient. That you took our sin and shame. You paid it all. Lord, such that we can trust you.

[45:52] Find the ultimate healing. Of a soul saved. And Lord, for our spirit. Where we've been wounded and hurt. Where we're hurting. Help us to reach out and touch the hem of your garment.

[46:05] Help us to draw closer to that relationship with you. Lord, comfort hearts. We know your word is full of comfort. It's the word of your comfort.

[46:17] The comfort of your scriptures. Pray that each one might be encouraged in faith. Encouraged in their walk. Encouraged to love you more. To know you more.

[46:27] More deeply. To love you more deeply. Lord, we praise you. May we have a heart to say, Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord, O my soul. In Jesus' name, amen.

[46:38] Amen. Amen.