Truth to Heal the Brokenhearted

Life is precious. We look around this room, we think of many others that we know and love, and we realize how precious life is.

Today I just want to say with deep respect and love and appreciation that here in this room we have older people but we also have infants and toddlers. To be able to hear the joyful noise of the the little ones is part of life and life is precious and it's so good to be able to share that together. We need that.

But life is fragile too, isn't it? And we all know that. We know it very deeply. We know it in many different ways. And we can share those things with each other, too. Sometimes when we come together on the holy Sabbath day, we come with heavy hearts. And this is one of those Sabbath days. [sighs] Two families among us have lost loved ones recently.

We'll have a memorial service later this Sabbath afternoon for a young man who died. And arrangements have not yet been announced for a gentleman who died last Sabbath evening, less than a week ago now. At times like this, we all grieve because we're all part of God's family. And if one suffers, we all suffer.

We all are connected. We gather as God's family in this holy convocation on this Sabbath day to worship our father and our Lord Jesus Christ and to receive from them a very special blessing. Early in his ministry, Jesus quoted from the prophet Isaiah. We heard some of Isaiah's words in the first message speaking of why the father had sent him.

And Isaiah wrote of the the Messiah who was to come. And when Christ was here, he quoted it. He said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted." And there were more things that he added and there are more yet to come.

But I want to focus on what he said there to heal the brokenhearted. And God sent Jesus Christ to preach this truth by which the brokenhearted may be healed. We're here today to receive this blessing. God knows that we need it. This is one of the most important and powerful gifts of God that we receive from the from and through the work of Jesus Christ. He came for this.

This was part of his specific mission. And Jesus still is actively fulfilling this part of his mission. Still comforting the brokenhearted. How does Jesus do that? How does he heal our broken hearts? What are some elements of the gospel that he preached? He came preaching this. What are some elements of the gospel that he preached that bring healing to those of us when we grieve? We all do grieve.

When your heart is broken, what do you find that helps you to heal when you read the scriptures? A few years ago, I asked the congregation here to send me a list of encouraging verses that help you when you are in need of help and encouragement and comfort. And so many of you sent lists of your scriptures that encourage you.

I really appreciated that. I still have those many of them from many of you. I asked God to help me bring some of his words of truth and life to you today. The words that he gave to Jesus Christ to give to us. And as I prepared this sermon message, four words kept coming up in the scriptures that I was reading. And each of these single words, it could be a very big topic and could be a very good study for us.

Not just for one event, but for many things in our lives. They're topics that have broad meaning and application. But today, I want to focus on how these four words help us to see the gifts of God that bring healing to God's precious people. Those words are promise, hope, comfort, and faith. And the title for the sermon today is truth to heal the brokenhearted.

And then with those four words as a subtitle. I mention all four as we get started because as we'll see when we read the scriptures, these four words are interconnected in such an important and impressive way. And when one is mentioned, almost always another or two or all of them come together in a single verse or single passage.

And so it's better if we take them together. But I want to step through them and as we do, you'll see the interconnection as well. Let's begin with where we can go back as far as we can in time in the scriptures and a verse that we have heard often and to some I know when we speak it it comes up fairly often in our messages but it's something that's so beautiful and so real so important for us it's in Titus chapter 1 verse one and two as we read these verses I want you to remember to notice who was inspired to write them because it matters too. And I

want to see this as we go. It says in Titus 1 verse 1 and two. Paul a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith. Pick these words up as we go. according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which is according to godliness in hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised before time began.

You see in that one verse we have promise, we have faith, we have hope. They're specifically mentioned in comfort is so very strongly implied which God who cannot lie. How comforting that is to us that this promise is there. And he gives us the comfort of knowing and believing the elect of God. You and me and all of us father all of us we have faith and acknowledge the truth.

That's where our faith comes from is from his truth. We have hope of eternal life and the comfort of knowing that it is sure because because God promised it. Peter wrote of God and Jesus Christ and he said among many other things he said that God in Christ has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises.

The word promise exceedingly great promises. Think of your promises received from God that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. And that divine nature lives forever. And that divine nature is what connects us to him as his sons and daughters. His spirit in us. It's from the promises, the exceedingly great promises.

in 1 John chapter 2 verse 25 and I'm going to just read from my notes because time is precious today and we have much to cover. In 1 John 2 and verse 25 it says and this is the promise that he has promised us eternal life. It narrows it down to that of all the promises of God that come to this eternal life. Life is precious.

Life is precious to God as well as to us, his people. He's promised us. There could be no greater promise, could there? And that's something that God promised before mortal humans were created. Because of this promise, all of us, we who are mortal, have hope of eternal life. And we who are here have hope of those who have passed away, that they will be given eternal life, too.

And that promise is sure for them, too. not just for ourselves but for our loved ones. And ultimately, it's God's purpose and his promise for all who will believe. We see this promise expounded in many ways in the scripture. Today, as we focus on it, I chose just a few verses and there are many, many more. You might add to them in your own study.

You know the one in John 3:16. Think of it in this sense of the promise that God has given to Jesus Christ to give to us. For God so loved the world in John 3:16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. What a great blessing.

You know it says in the next verse it says for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world and we can have comfort in that. It's his mission to bring eternal life and Jesus Christ himself spoke of this many times. I just wrote down a few. You know, I did a word search for eternal life and it shows up 32 times in the New Testament in different ways, but most of the ways is with the promise being given.

Jesus Christ said in John 6 and verse 40, "And this is the will of him who sent me." It's God's will. He gave a promise and it's his will that it be achieved in our lives, attained, given to us as his precious gift that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life.

And Jesus added to this, "And I will raise him up at the last day." We're building this promise and the the the the confirmation of it again and again through the scriptures. so that we can then grow toward the comforting that God wants to give to us. We want that and he he knows we need it.

Continuing in the book of John in chapter 10 and verses 27 through 29, Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice." Here we are. And I prayed and asked God that you would hear his voice instead of mine. That these words would be from him to you. And I'm just reading them that he God gave them to Jesus Christ to give to us. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.

He's so sure of this and he tells us and he wants us to know and believe these things and he says my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. We can be secure in his love in his gift of life that give to us in John 11 and verse 25. This is at the time when Christ was talking to Martha just before her brother Lazarus was raised from the dead back to physical life.

And they were talking about the resurrection. And Jesus said this, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live." Do you see that? Christ is so sure of it. He told the grieving sister their brother would live again. And he did in a physical sense. But Christ was mentioning something that applies to all of us in a spiritual sense applies to the giving of life eternally.

He who believes in me though he may die he shall live. See how clear this is in the scripture and it just comes and through it we can have the comfort that God is giving to us. Consider consider how the promise of eternal life helped faithful people of old. When we think of that promise, we think of it for ourselves, but it's for everyone who would believe.

And we have many examples in the scriptures of people of old. And you can think of Abraham and Sarah. And you know where their names are listed in Hebrews 11, the faithful people of old. If you look back and see their life stories in the scriptures, you will see that there came a time when they died and there was mourning for them.

You know when Sarah died, Abraham grieved and he bought a field with cave place to bury her. So he went through what we go through. These all died in faith. It says, "Not having received the promises." Again, you see faith. Promise. These words are so strong and powerful, but having seen them a far off, they were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

We see those promises are far off, too. and some of our families, some of our brothers and sisters and husbands and wives and children and grandchildren, mothers and fathers and grandparents. Some of our family has died in faith having seen those promises a far off too. And so this affects us all just as it affected the people of old.

You know of Isaac, Rebecca, how he buried her and Joseph and Moses. The burials of these people are mentioned in the scriptures. Hearts were broken when those faithful people died. And that's still how it goes, isn't it? We mourn. We grieve. Our hearts are broken. Jesus Christ came to heal the brokenhearted. And God has given us the same promises that he gave to them.

And we are assured of them. And we embrace them. And we confess that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. In the New King James version, this section of scripture is titled the heavenly hope. Those people had hope. They had promises and through those promises they had hope. And that's the next word I'd like to speak of.

Notice again how the promise of eternal life gives us hope. This is part of how God and Jesus Christ heal the brokenhearted. It moves from promise to hope. Remember what we read in Titus 1 and verse two. I'll just quote it again for you. In hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised. Because he promised we have hope. We have a very strong hope.

in Hebrews chapter 6. It's one of those books. Mr. LS recommended that we read this book. It's so filled with inspiration is these very very positive explanations of the promises of God and the hope we have, the comfort that we receive. In Hebrews 6 verse1 17-19 it says thus God determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise to who? The faithful people who become his daughters and his sons.

The receiving of his holy spirit giving us that divine nature. the building and growing in that new person that we become. The heirs of promise, the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. You see this again, he wants us to be anchored in this.

And you'll see that that we might have strong consolation. And that consolation is the same word as comfort. In the Greek, it's the same word. It means to come alongside, to stand next to each other, to be there to help one another, to hold the hand of a person who's grieving, to be there to comfort them.

A strong consolation to those who have fled for refuge, to lay hold of the hope set before us. It's something to grasp and hold on to and never to give up. This hope it says we have as an anchor of a soul and that anchor is it says both sure and steadfast and which enters the presence behind the veil that gives us a clue brethren of where we go with our hope.

We go to the presence behind the veil. We come in prayer to our God who has promised us eternal life, to his son who brought it and gives it and helps us. We lay hold of that hope set before us. In Jeremiah chapter 29, it's a favorite verse for some of you. I know when I ask a list of comforting verses, this one came up many times from those of you here who sent your favorite verses to me. Jeremiah 29 and verse 11.

It says, "For I know, this is God speaking. I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." We c we have a future. We see that the promises are far off and we embrace them. We have a sure hope. It's an anchor to our soul.

We have these things and he's always wanted us to have this and he's always ready to give it and to strengthen it in us. In Psalm chapter 119, Psalm 119 verses 49 and 50 says, "Remember the word to your servant. Remember the word, the truth, the gospel, [clears throat] those things that God inspired and that were written in the scriptures for us.

Remember the word to your servant by which you have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction. See how hope moves to comfort. We have this word promises. We have all that is given here for us. God's love expressed so many things. This word gives us hope. And that hope brings comfort because it's real. There are many passages of scripture that reveal what the future is that God plans for us to give us a future and a hope.

And the hope that he gave is that we will live forever. The hope that he gave is the hope of eternal life. And to all who believe, this hope originates from the promise given before time began in and through the son of God. It's a promise which cannot fail. It's an anchor. It's sure, steadfast. It brings us into God's presence and it comforts us.

God knows that in times like this, our grief is real. We can't just say it'll be better, just get over it. No, grief is real and Jesus Christ himself experienced that. Is speaks of what he went through and God did seeing his son who was giving his life for us. Grief is real. It says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 13, [snorts] he says to us, "But I do not want you to be unaware.

" I like that word better than ignorant. I don't want you to be unaware, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, those who have died. Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. Oh, there's a contrast. I want to take just a moment here, brethren, and mention this contrast. There are others who have no hope.

And they're mentioned there. He doesn't want us to be like that. A little story about no hope. In 1967, when I was junior in high school, in our English class, we had to recite poetry in front of the class in order to uh get our grades up where we needed them. Any of you have those experiences in your class? They probably don't even do that in these days.

And I found this poem. It was at a time when I was 17 years old and I was just learning about this promise, this hope, God's truth, eternal life. These were new things coming into my thought and thinking. And in my heart, I wasn't yet baptized, but I was beginning to learn these things. And I read this poem, and it was so striking to me.

And I will tell you I ska I I I memorized this poem because it was so easy to memorize and it helped me to click off the number of lines I needed to accomplish the task. Some of you teachers might know how that works. This poem has only six lines and each line has only two syllables. But brethren, that poem stuck in my mind from then to now as something that expresses what Paul was writing in 1 Thessalonians 4, those others who have no hope.

The poem is this was written by Robert Heric in 1648, long long time ago. It says this, "Thus I pass by and die as one unknown and gone, utter hopelessness." A man who was a famous poet wrote that to have that kind of outlet. Christ is saying that we have hope. And when we grieve, it's not like others who have no hope. I can only imagine.

I I don't want to imagine what it's like to have no hope. And to be able to express it that succinctly, thus I pass by and die as one unknown and gone. It's just gone. No, brethren, it's not that for us. Christ has given us so much more. and God the Father too. Continue in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 in verse 14. For if we believe, now we're at the song that was so beautiful. Thank you.

Thank you for this. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and certainly we do, that's the foundation of our faith. that Jesus Christ died and rose again. Even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. Death is looked upon in the scriptures asleep. For this we say to you, brethren, by the word of the Lord. This is his word.

This is to us, to all of us, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, with a trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. That's why we're here today. Not just to receive this comforting, but to comfort one another with his words, with these words. And all of us, brethren, every single one of us can do this to help someone, to help each other, to receive from one another that help we need.

We are members of the body of Christ, of his family. We are here to help each other. And yes, sometimes there's joy and sometimes there's all sorts of good things to do together and and cheer on and have great and joyable times, but there are times chronicled in the scriptures when we come together for this purpose to comfort one another with his word.

God wants us to pass on to others the comforting that he has given to us. And brethren, this comforting, the giving of comfort from one of us to another is part of the mission of Jesus Christ. This is part of what he did and what he wants us to do. How he heals the broken heart. We'll see this in this next passage.

And you can turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. We'll see something very very important. So you see how it works within the family of God. How the comforting is given. 2 Corinthians 1 beginning in verse three. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation directly.

The father directly, oneon-one, personally comforts his children. He comforts us in all our tribulation. Why? What is one of the purposes? There are many, but one of them shown here is this. That we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the same comfort. With the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Many of you have been through things that were hard for you. All of us, I expect. And it was difficult, wasn't it? But we can receive that comfort from God. And then what? Then we can share it. Then we can say to one another, God helped me in this way. Let me help you too. Maybe it's not even with a spoken word.

Maybe it's just being there. Maybe it's holding a hand while someone cries. Maybe it's just letting them know that truly, sincerely, deep down as brother and sister, you care. You're there for them. Says in verse five, "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.

Our comfort abounds through him." If we have sufferings and then we have the consolation that abounds through Christ, that consolation, that comfort that's given to us can then be shared. And it shows this. He says, "Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation, for your comforting, for your salvation.

We can help each other because we've been through these things and we know it says which is effective this comforting between ourselves one to another. This is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer or if we are comforted it is for your consolation your comforting too and salvation. Can you help someone attain to the promise that God has given? Can you help someone endure what they're going through? Can you help give them comfort so that they are taking steps toward salvation? That's what it's saying here. We can do

that. We need to and we are. And I know in this congregation this is so very evident. It's is so really very evident. He knows that we need to hear again that he and Jesus Christ love us. And God knows that we need to be comforted. He comforts us directly and he provides for us to receive his comforting from others.

We could all share stories of this and I hope you will. Well, I hope you do, especially with those who are going through things right now. And notice verse seven. And our hope for you, Paul is writing to them and he says this, "Our hope for you," the ones he's comforting, the ones he's saying, "Comfort one another.

" He says, "Our hope for you is steadfast." He knows they can make. He knows they can come through their trial. Because we know that as you are partakers of the suffering soul also you will be partakers of the consolation of the comforting as well. We know this. This is how it works with God's spirit in us with his truth in us. So just as our hope for ourselves is an anchor of our own souls, we can be an anchor for someone else.

Don't just give up on someone. Don't just say it'll be okay and leave. Spend some time. Pray with them. Pray for them. Our hope for you, Paul says, is steadfast. When we comfort one another, we are doing so in hope of them, steadfast and s secure and firm. Sharing this hope is one of the best ways to comfort one another.

What do you hope for? Eternal life. How do we get there? Faith comes in, doesn't it? In Hebrews 10, Hebrews 10 verse 22- 24, let us draw nearer, it says, with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the con the confession of our hope.

What are we holding fast to? Hope in faith we hold fast to hope without wavering. For he who promised, see the words just flow together. The way they work together in powerful ways to help God's people. For he who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another. There it is again. comfort one another in order to stir up love and good works.

We draw near to God and we draw near to one another. In Hebrews 11, we get to that chapter known as the faith chapter. Hebrews 11 and verse one, it says, "Faith is a substance of things hoped for." If you took hope away, what would faith be? Faith is the substance of things hoped for. We're looking forward to the future that God has planned for us.

It's the evidence of things not seen. And we bury someone or we scatter their ashes in the ocean. We don't see the risen person later, but we have hope, don't we? That God will raise them. The connection between faith and hope is so, so powerful, and we need that, brethren. Hope is very powerful as a spiritual gift, and it anchors our soul.

in Romans 8. If you're ever in time of grieving or you just need encouragement, the last half of Romans 8, I just recommend it. I read it often to people. I read it on my own. It's so so very encouraging. And it says here in Romans 8:4, "For we are saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope.

For why does one still hope for what he sees?" We hope for something to come, and we have faith that it will. We have faith that God will keep his promise. We look forward to that. We hope for blessings to come. And hope is very powerful. And it's backed up with faith. And by faith, by faith we can be assured of God's promises.

You read the rest of Hebrews 11 and you see that over and over again. And it's examples that are given there. Says we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. We can look at their lives and we can see the faith by which they lived and did great things. We have the cloud of witnesses in our own lifetimes too who lived in faith and died in faith.

Brethren, life is fragile, isn't it? But God's promise is sure, eternal life. And we live in hope of that promise which is sure and steadfast. And God comforts us when someone we love dies, especially if they die in faith, promising us that he will raise them to eternal life. And we with them, we who are alive and remain will be with them to we shall always be with the Lord.

Again, reference back to the hymn we heard. He gives us the blessing of giving and receiving comfort from other people of faith. And God gives us that faith to believe. We can believe these things because God has given this promise. He gave us a truth that heals our broken hearts. He gave us promise. He gives us hope.

He gives us comfort. and he gives us faith. I'd like to close with Revelation 21 verses 1-4. Last Sabbath evening, some of us were at a hospital to visit one of our faithful friends. And I asked what was his favorite Bible passage? And it was mentioned the last two chapters of Revelation. I'd like to just read a few of those verses for you.

3 hours after reading these verses, our friend died. But he heard these words again and he believed. I want to read them to you. Revelation 21 verse 1-4. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, the city far away that the faithful people saw. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the the former things have passed away. Brethren, God anointed Jesus Christ to heal the brokenhearted. And that healing that he gives will last forever. And we can thank our father and thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving us this blessing and showing us the way to receive it and to pass it on to others.