Look at Acts 10:38, we read, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
If you could take all the good things Jesus had done and stack them up in a pile, they would amaze us. He went about every day doing as much good as He could do that day!
His primary reason for coming was to REDEEM MANKIND, but what a wonderful example His life is to all of us for how we are to live our lives.
In our text, we see the Lord gathering outcasts, healing broken hearts and binding wounds. He looked for those who were in need.
If you were in a crowd of a thousand people where everyone was jumping with joy, and you were the only one weeping in tears, you would be the one He would seek out. He always sought out the wounded.
Illus: 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. One day after a big battle, an officer saw her on the battlefield amid all the suffering and 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."
That nurse believed it was her solemn duty to find the wounded and bring them in where their wounds could be treated. But a question we need to address is, “WHY ARE THERE SO MANY WOUNDED?” Let me give you three reasons:
I. WOUNDED BY SELF
The misery that they are experiencing is misery they have brought upon themselves. IT IS SELF-INFLICTED! The Self-inflicted wound is the most difficult kind of wound for us to understand.
The reason that it is difficult to understand is because we know that life itself is going to inflict a certain amount of sorrow and suffering on us. Job 14:1, says, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.”
Suffering is not something we need to go looking for, it will find us! Most of us do everything we can to keep it from finding us, but there are some who seek it.
WHY DO THEY DO SUCH THINGS? It is believed that some do it for various reasons, such as, some inflict these wounds on themselves:
(1) BECAUSE THEY HATE THEMSELVES
Many of these do not like the way they look or anything about themselves. Many of them do not like:
• Their nose
• Their eyes
• The color of their hair
• Their size
They do not like a thing about themselves. They literally hate themselves! They are their own worst enemy! This is why they want to hurt themselves.
Illus: Speaking of enemies, did you hear about the man who felt that his enemy had done him wrong? He wanted to make life miserable for the man that did him wrong, but being a Christian he could not sock him in the nose, so he did the Christian thing and bought each of his five children a set of drums!
Those who hate themselves want to Inflict as much misery as they can on themselves.
Illus: Did you hear about the captain, during the time of war, that was attempting to rally the GIs on the eve of a big attack. He said "Out there is your enemy:
•“Out there is the man who has made your life miserable every day!”
•“Out there is the man who is working to destroy you every day!”
•“Out there is the man who has been trying to kill you day after day throughout this war."
Private Johnson jumped to his feet and shot the cook. They asked him why he did such a thing. He said, ‘Because I did not know until a few minutes ago that he was the enemy!’
We all have enemies, but some folks are their own worst enemy!
Illus: We often see television documentaries these days dealing with how many people are turning to the plastic surgeons because they hate themselves. Some of these have had as many as 20 to 25 surgeries trying to change their looks.
The documentary also pointed out that many have turned to the plastic surgeons only to discovered that after the surgery they still do not like the way they look.
Illus: This reminds us of the patient that could not stand the way he looked, and, with some skepticism, reluctantly turned to the plastic surgeon to help him look better.
• He said: “What is the probability of success in undergoing this type of surgery?”
• Doctor: “100%!!”
• Patient: “But how can you be so sure of achieving 100% success?”
• Doctor: “The reason I can assure you 100% success is because my professor in Med school told me that the failure rate of this kind of surgery is 99%, and only 1% percent is successful. I have already failed with 99 and you will the 100th.”
Some hate themselves so much, they not only do not like certain physical things about themselves, they do not even like their gender. Some are willing to submit themselves to a “Sex Change” surgery. “Stephanie” becomes “Steve” and “Max” becomes “Maxine”.
It is difficult to understand how a person could be so unhappy that they would submit themselves to such an operation. Those who have done this have discovered there are some drawbacks to such decisions.
Illus: A group of guys and one girl are sitting together at a ball game. During the game, the guys notice that the girl knows just as much about the game as they do, and they’re really impressed. After the game they ask her, "How is it that you know so much about baseball?" She replies, "Well, I used to be a guy and I had a sex change operation." She said, “It was painful, but the most painful thing about it was when I became a woman and went back to work and they cut my salary in half!”
But in all honesty, I would like to recommend “Sex Change” surgery for some.
Illus: Osama bin Laden has made life for the women in Afghanistan a living hell on this earth. The Taliban have abused women greatly. I think they should capture Osama, fly him to an undisclosed hospital and have surgeons quickly perform a complete sex change operation. Then return HER to Afghanistan to live as a woman under the Taliban.
There are many folks in the society in which we are living that have become their own worst enemy. They are hurting because they have inflicted misery on themselves.
When we see people like this, we need to reach out and try to help these hurting people. Do not try to understand them, because it makes no sense to us whatsoever, just reach out to help them.
Some inflict this misery on themselves because they literally hate who they are. Others do it because -
(2) THEY FEEL THEY DESERVE SUCH PUNISHMENT
Those who practice “self-injury” are people who feel they deserve such treatment!
For example, many women who are abused by their husbands are beaten, but they do not flee from this abusive marriage because they feel they are getting what they deserve. You can ask them, and they will tell you, “It really isn’t his fault, I provoked the conflict!”
But in all fairness, some wives abuse their husbands just as badly.
Illus: On one fearful night, lightning shot through the sky and thunder roared in blasts that would frightened anyone. The rain came down in sheets. The door of a little bakery opened and a drenched man came up to the counter and said, “Let me have two bagels.” The baker looked at him incredulously. “What,” said the baker, “You came out on a night like this just for two bagels? That’s all?” “Yes, that’s all,” answered the man. “That is all I need, just one for me and one for Pauline.” “Who is Pauline?” asked the baker. He said in a very angry voice, “She is my wife, do you think my mother would send me out on a night like this for two bagels?”
But we hear more about WIVES being abused than we do about HUSBANDS being abused. Over and over again, these wives have been told:
• They are no good
• They have messed up their life and the life of everyone that comes into contact with them
• They deserve all the misery that can be brought to them
Self-injury (SI), or self-harm, involves inflicting pain and injury upon oneself. Common forms are cutting, burning, or scratching; but, the methods used are irrelevant.
Experts say that they have such a hatred for themselves, that when they abuse themselves it is a form of relief. They are trading off emotional suffering for physical suffering.
Illus: They make us think of the fellow that kept beating his head against the wall. Finally, a man asked him why he was doing that. He said he did it because it felt so good when he stopped.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was visiting with a young attractive girl in the Psychiatric ward in Columbia, S.C.. She thought a lot of him and his wife and requested that he come and see her. She had lived a rebellious life, giving her parents a difficult time. When he walked into her room, he noticed her sitting in a chair with sadness all over her face. But the thing that caught his attention immediately was that she had long scratches on her arms. He said, “Robbie, how did your arm get in that condition?” She looked at him and she started scratching her arms and said, “I hate myself.” He then realized she had done this to herself.
There are people who literally hate themselves. They feel that the sorrow that is dished out to them in life is not sufficient, they have to do other things to make their life miserable because they think they deserve such treatment.
There are many folks out there hurting, and they are doing it to themselves. It is our job to reach out to these people and do as Christ did, go about helping the wounded.
Illus: D.L. Moody said, "I picture the world as a wrecked vessel, drawing nearer and nearer to destruction. God gave me a lifeboat and said, ‘Here, Moody, save all you can.’”
Many are WOUNDED BY SELF, and then many are-
II. WOUNDED BY SOCIETY
Some people do not like misery, they would not think of inflicting pain on themselves. But the society in which they live does a good job of it. For some, it seems society does everything it can to make life miserable for them.
• Some suffer because of the COLOR OF THEIR SKIN
• Some suffer because of their LACK OF EDUCATION
• Some suffer because of their POLITICAL BELIEFS
• Some suffer because of their RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
• Some suffer because of their NATIONALITY
• Some suffer because of their LOOKS
Society has made life miserable for some folks. Society is UNMERCIFUL! Let me give you some Biblical examples of the cruelty of society.
A. WE SEE PHYSICAL REJECTION
A leper was wounded by society and came to the Lord in Matthew 8. This man had a disease that made him repulsive to all who looked upon him.
• Did he enjoy being a leper? No!
• Could he do anything about being a leper? No!
• Was he like everyone else? No!
When he walked down the street, he had to cover his lip and cry out, "Unclean! Unclean!"
Lev. 13:35, “And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.”
Society is CRUEL!
Illus: We can all remember when we were young and someone would pick on someone in the class:
• When they walked by, they held their nose
• They refused to sit by them
Illus: In one of the school shootings, one of the young fellows that brought a gun to school and shot other students was asked why he did such a thing. He said that every day he woke up and by law he was required to go to school. And every day other students made fun of him, and he had all he could take and decided to stop the abuse!
There are many people in our society that are tired of being picked on.
Illus: I know a man that a pastor worked with for years, trying to get him to come to church. He and his wife were having some marital problems and he finally agreed to come. The man was bald headed, and a woman walked up to this man who had never been in this church before, and made fun of him for being bald headed. The next week the pastor went to his home and told him and his wife how happy he was that they came to church. The man became very quiet. The pastor was observant and knew something was wrong. He asked him, “Is something wrong?” And the man said, “Preacher, I won’t be coming back to church.” He then explained how this woman embarrassed him in front of all these strangers. But here is the sad part, the domestic problem could have been straightened out, but once he was driven out of the church, their domestic problems got so bad that when he came home one night, she was standing in the living room with a pistol and she shot him and then shot herself. The same pastor had to preach a double funeral. That man and woman are probably in hell today, and it is most likely because of this stupid woman!
No one enjoys being embarrassed or picked on! The poor leper in the scriptures suffered greatly because of society. It is said that people who had a little compassion would hang clean rags on the fences and trees, so he might take them off and wipe the corruption from his sores of leprosy, then discard them.
That’s the only thing society would do for him. He was an outcast from his family and friends. But there was One:
•Who came from Heaven
• Who was born in Bethlehem’s manger
• Who walked the shores of Galilee
• Who loved the outcasts
When He came from Heaven, He was looking for the wounded.
The leper came close to the Lord Jesus Christ, saying in Matthew 8:2, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." He was saying that he knew Jesus had the ability, but also he was asking, “Do You love me enough?"
Immediately Jesus said, in Matthew 8:3, "I will; be thou clean." The man who had been:
• Wounded by society
• Cast out by society
Was all of a sudden physically acceptable to society.
B. WE SEE SOCIAL REJECTION.
The woman of Sychar, the woman at the well, was an outcast. She had had five husbands, and the man she was then living with wasn’t her husband. She was a fallen woman, an outcast from society. She was the kind of woman that could walk down the street and other women would look at her and make fun of her behind her back.
Notice, she was drawing water in the afternoon, in the heat. Other women came to the well in the morning.
John 4:6b-7a, “...and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water:....”
Jesus was going from Judea to Galilee. Usually when the Jews traveled from Judea to Galilee or Galilee back to Jerusalem, they went around Samaria because of their hatred for the Samaritans. They thought they were dogs. They had no use for them and wanted no contact with them.
This time it was different for the Lord. He said to His disciples, "I must needs go through Samaria." Not understanding that, I can imagine they must have said one to another, "Why does He have to go through Samaria?"
• Little did they know that the Son of God was looking for the wounded
• He had an appointment with a fallen woman at Jacob’s Well
Sitting on the curve of that old well, He saw her coming. He could see the marks of sin on her face, on her countenance. He gave her living water. She went back to that city and said in John 4:29, “Come, see a man…" In other words, come see a man that really cares about me! Jesus had found and ministered to this wounded woman.
The wounded are everywhere! We have seen people WOUNDED BY SELF and WOUNDED BY SOCIETY, but also there are those who are -
III. WOUNDED BY SATAN
This is the worst kind of suffering of them all.
• What people do to themselves is terrible
• What society does to people is terrible
But the worst is what SATAN does to people. HE IS UNMERCIFUL.
Let me give you a Biblical example. In the Gospel of Mark, we read how Satan had taken over a man’s life; he was demon possessed. Satan had ruined his life:
• He could not live with his family, he had to live in a graveyard
• He was bound with chains like a wild animal
• He had lost his friends
• He had nothing to live for
Then the Lord came along and cast the demons out of him, and he became a NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST!
Look at him in Mark 5:15, “And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.”
Conclusion:
I want to say again, if there were a thousand people that were leaping for joy and you were the only one with a broken heart, you would be the one He would seek to find.
We have looked at:
I. WOUNDED BY SELF
II. WOUNDED BY SOCIETY
III. WOUNDED BY SATAN
May God help you and may God help me to be like that nurse, and tell the whole world, "I’m must be on the battlefield for there are many wounded."
