DEEP WOUNDS Isaiah 61:1 sermon by Pastor Jason Wakefield Deep Wounds Part 1 Life Situation • Life Situation (Orange Orchard) • The issues • “I Struggling with”: • Broken Relationships • Anger • Lust • Dealing with Perspectives Perspectives How I think others see me • The Fantasy Land of Hypocrisy (Tying Oranges) • Denying the truth/Believing the lie How others really see me • Identified Sin • Patterns of continued (habitual sin)/Missing the Mark How we see ourselves • The root of our problem • The lies we believe about ourselves How God sees us • Knowing the Truth that sets us free! • Pray, Read, Serve, Tell Dysfunctional Behavior • Dysfunctional Behavior (6 R’s) • The Sins • Gossip • Speaking to others with Anger • Engaging in sexual thoughts and behavior • 6 R’s: Recognize – Repent – Renounce – Receive – Realign – Rejoice Emotional Upheaval • Emotional Upheaval (Who Turned out the Lights) • Seeing the truth of our wounds • Confronting the Lie about Ourselves • The Lies that resulted from our wounds • I am ugly, unlovable, unwanted etc. • The Jews violent reaction to truth in John 8 • Confronting the Lie about God • The Lies about God that resulted from our wounds • Why did God allow this? • Did God want me to suffer? • Does He care? False Beliefs • False Beliefs (Truth and Lies) • Moving from seeing the lies to believing the Truth • Truth is a person to be known, it is understood in a work and spoken in a message. The person is Jesus, the work is the cross, the message is the gospel. • Daily Dependence upon Truth • Pray, Read, Serve, Tell Things to Consider • Healing (just like salvation) is for our entirety – spiritual, physical, emotional, relational… • Healing is God re-forming our deformity allowing us to function as He intended. • Healing does not mean it won’t hurt any longer, nor does it mean you won’t remember an event. • Healing is the experience of Jesus satisfying our deepest longings; it feels like the balm of the Holy Spirit poured out upon our broken hearts bringing fullness and joy! It looks like freedom from the chains of bitterness, resentment, fear, and shame. • Healing looks like an open door for the grace of God to move into your heart. • Healing awakens your heart and mind to accept and believe God’s perspective of you. Things to Consider • Healing does not depend on your ability to remember this process – it depends on Christ alone. He is our “Wonderful Counselor” (Is. 9:6) who uses the Holy Spirit to teach us (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:10; 1 John 2:27). • Healing is a journey to a destination. • You can get stuck at anywhere in this process. • You can have more than one issue your dealing with at different levels. • You are completed with this process when Jesus says you are and it has been my experience that Jesus is not content to keep us at the surface level - He will always lead us to the place of our deepest wounds. Deep Wounds – Isaiah 61:1 • The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Isaiah 61:1 ESV) Deep Wounds – Isaiah 61:1 • The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Isaiah 61:1 ESV) Overview • Jesus came to heal our wounds: Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Relational • He does this through the Spirit because of the Gospel • Our wounds have a Divine purpose • Healing is promised only in Jesus Jesus Came to Heal our Wounds • The Spirit of God came upon him – appointing him for a specific task to a specific group of people • The people – The sin-stained broken (Us) • Sin both in nature and in action • Broken in all ways • The task – Declare the Kingdom of God • Gospel – Good News The People • The Poor: Anav • Needy, weak, afflicted, miserable, humbled, lowly, meek • Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. (Numbers 12:3, ESV) • For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. (Psalm 149:4 ESV) • Psalm 9:13; 10:12; 22:27; 149:4, Is. 29:19 The People • The Brokenhearted: Shabar • Break, rend violently, wreck, crush, quench, rupture, maim, cripple, shatter • The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. (Exodus 34:1 ESV) • The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18 ESV) The People • The Captives: Shabah • Related to brokenhearted • To be lead to, be taken and to live in captivity • “Thus says the LORD of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go. (Jeremiah 50:33 ESV) • You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there. (Psalm 68:18 ESV) The People • The Bound: Acar • Tied up, to bind and be bound, taken prisoner • To be under obligation or oath. • And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. (Genesis 39:20 ESV) • If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. (Numbers 30:2 ESV) The Task • The Spirit of God anointed Jesus to heal our wounds through: • The good news – The Gospel • Incarnation, life of obedience, cross, death, resurrection, ascension & coronation, mediation and return. • Triumphal leading in the Kingdom of God • Binding up – providing healing to wounds • Proclaiming Liberty – declaring freedom • Opening prison doors – releasing prisoners The Divine Purpose for our Wounds • Many believe our past wounds should be forgotten and ‘moved on’ from. But this is to misunderstand the purpose of our wounds. • The Truth is God uses our wounds to reflect our need, lead us to Jesus and receive the healing he promises. • When we bring our wounds to him we declare the gospel to be true and receive the healing only Jesus can bring. Only in Jesus • Our healing is not only a possibility it is a promise – but only in Christ. • Not in determined, well intentioned practices • Not in knowledge of our inner psyche or in understanding of how all these parts work • Only in a constant dependence upon the grace of God in Christ. Part 2 • Next Week: Engaging our Deep Wounds DEEP WOUNDS Isaiah 61:1 sermon by Pastor Jason Wakefield