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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/jerry-jennings/christ-cares/
I'll read with you in Luke's Gospel. Luke chapter 4. I'll read in verse 16 of Luke chapter 4. It says,. And he, that is the Lord Jesus, came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read.
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found a place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book and gave it to the minister or attendant and sat down. In the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. Now, back in the day, there was a song and it was based upon a question.
Is there anybody out there? Is there anybody out there? Well, based upon the Word of God, the scripture we read in chapter four, that we can report that there is someone out there. Not only is he there, but he cares.
He's not only there for you and there for me, but he cares for you. And he cares for me as well. He cares about the poor. He cares about the brokenhearted. He cares about the captive. He cares about the blind.
And he cares about the bruised. I take it that these are five representative people that take in the problem people of the whole population. In the whole of the population you can find these people. They're there.
And the Lord knows they're there. And he's also there. And he also cares. Now, I want to say something about the poor, the poverty-stricken. I take it that this is mankind in his deep spiritual need.
The very need that each and every one of us in this room had as we came into this world. We had a deep spiritual need. An indebtedness that we inherited. And a poverty we inherited as well in relation to the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden.
Wherefore, by one man, sin entered the world, and death by sin, and death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And again, the Bible says all have sinned, come short of the glory of God. It's a debt we cannot pay off with money.
Can't pay it off with money. Debts in relation to this world you can pay off with money. But this is a debt that you can't pay off with money, and neither can I. And you can't pay it off with material things.
And you can't pay it off with manipulation. But we can be thankful to the one that is out there for you. And he's out there for me, that he has a message of hope in a hopeless world, or at least seemingly hopeless world.
A message for the hopeless. And it's a message that will meet the need of every individual in this room, every individual in this world. It's the message of Christ, and it's really a simple message, isn't it?
There's nothing confusing about it. It's just really the simple story of Christ, who left the glories of heaven and stooped and came into this world of sin and shame and sorrow and sadness. He went all the way to the cross of Calvary on behalf of everyone in this room, on behalf of all mankind.
It's a message of Christ, also a message of divine treasure that will endure forever. The riches that the world has to offer. And by the way, the world does have riches to offer. But they're very fragile, and they're very fleeting, and they're very failing.
True riches brings eternal joy. Earthly riches bring only happiness. That's your bass boat in the backyard, all polished up and pretty with all of its paraphernalia nowadays. You know, when I was a young man, I fished for catfish.
And you could eat catfish out of the river in them days. I don't know that you could today. But you didn't need a bass boat, and you didn't need all the paraphernalia that goes along with a bass boat.
All you needed was a bamboo pole and a worm. And I'll tell you, you were in business. You could just sling them catfish up on the bank, and they'll bite one right after another. And if you're a cat fisherman in the room today, just let me tell you this.
If you catch a snapping turtle, and you butcher that snapping turtle, then take that liver out of there. You can cut that liver just like a shoestring in strips. And then you feed that right onto that hook, cast that out there in a deep hole or in a snag.
You'll have a catfish in the snap of your finger. So there you go, you see, if you want to go fishing. Earthly riches bring only happiness, and that's based upon material things. That's here today, and then it's gone tomorrow.
And the true issue today is not whether you or I am rich insofar as this world is concerned. I know that it makes life a little more comfortable. But the true issue is, are we rich toward God? And if we're not saved and born again the Bible way and washed in the precious blood of Christ, then we're not rich toward God.
And we're really poverty stricken. I want to think about the broken hearted. Is there anyone in the room this afternoon, and you're broken hearted, that you have a heartache? It's pretty hard for me to think that in this vast amount of people, there's not anyone here that's broken hearted.
Surely somebody is broken hearted. Well, if you're broken hearted this afternoon, let me tell you that he's out there for you. And he's not only for you, but he really cares for you. And he cares about that broken heart today.
You know there's enough sorrow in this world to go around, isn't there? And their cry is heard around the world today. There is more than enough broken hearts and broken homes and broken health. The whole population, the whole human race is overwhelmed today with trials and with tears.
And very slow to discover that medicine and music and money are no cure for a broken heart. Money and medicine, music, some of that music you hear today, you wonder if that's music. Sounds like they're mad, madder and a hatter.
But I can tell you this, it won't cure a broken heart. It might break your eardrums, but it's never going to cure a broken heart. And folks are slow to discover that these things cannot cure a broken heart.
And instead of Israel, God heard their cry and came down to deliver them. Do you have a broken heart today? Has God heard your cry? You know He will. He will hear your cry. God came down to do extraordinary things.
He came down to Calvary. That's an extraordinary thing that God did. He came down to Calvary in the person of His lovely Son. Soon He's going to come to the air. And then one day He's coming to the earth.
And those are extraordinary things. Meanwhile, He says to you and He says to every individual, He says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Come, listen, and I will give you rest, even for your broken heart.
You know that verse doesn't just pertain to the dear unsaved, although it does. And we use it that way, and rightly so. But I believe it pertains to you and it pertains to me. And if we're looking for rest in this world, we're not going to find it.
And we can only find it in the person of Christ. And if we have a broken heart, today we're never going to find a cure for it in the world. But we can find a cure for it in Christ. But in order to do that, we must come to Him.
We can come softly and just lie at His feet. You know there is a cure for all of our earthly cares. How about the captive? They're the ones that are in bondage. Now these aren't necessarily people that are incarcerated and behind bars or prison camps.
Some are in bondage to their habits. Some folks have bad habits. Now if you know somebody that smokes, don't beat too hard on them. That's not a real easy habit to break. You say, how do you know? I used to open the third pack every day.
I didn't smoke the whole third pack, but I opened it. I can tell you this, it's very easy to quit. Because I quit a lot of times. I quit and then I'd start up again. But then after the Lord saved me, I had this habit.
And there was a little light that flicked on in my brain every evening about a certain time. And it said Marlboro time. And away I went to get my soother. And I could not get myself away from it. I was attached to it.
And finally one night I gave up. And I got down on my knees and I asked God to deliver me. And you know what He did? He delivered me. Sometimes folks say to me, how do you quit smoking? I tell them, quit buying them.
And that's simple enough, just quit buying them. So some folks are in bondage to their habits and to their haunts and to their hungers, such as drugs, such as drink. Some are in bondage to their health and they're entrapped in their bodies because of their health.
And now because they're entrapped in their bodies, they're entrapped in their houses. And they can't leave their houses because they're entrapped in their bodies. Those are the ones that you go to visit, right?
That's right, isn't it? Those are the ones you should go visit. Did you ever learn this? You probably have. You've been around longer than I have, even though I'm older than a lot of you here in the room.
You've been at this longer than I have. But I've made an observation that if you go visit someone that's entrapped in their body and thus entrapped in their house, and you go to be a blessing to them, when you leave the house, guess who has the blessing?
It's the visitor. It's the visitor. Some folks are entrapped in their bodies by some dreadful disease, and God says he shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. It's only Christ that can free us up.
It's Christ alone that has the key that unlocks the man trap. I don't have time to tell you about a man trap. But I'd like to. Well, Christ is the only one that has the key to the man trap. And men and women and boys and girls are trapped by these things of bondage.
And it's only Christ who has the key that can release the trap and let you out. He can do it. He's willing to do it. If you come to him with your problem. Let me think a little bit. I'm going to quit at 4 .30.
Hold me to it. I will stop at 4 .30, all right? Because I heard that's when this meeting stops. So that means I'm done at 4 .30, right brother? Yeah, okay. Let me say something to you about the blind.
You know, the physically blind have never seen the beauty of God's creation. Isn't that sad? And the beauty of God's creation is abundant. Isn't it? No matter where you go, even if you go to Oklahoma, you might find something down there in Oklahoma that's abundantly beautiful.
Try it. I'll tell you one thing. You can go to Wisconsin and you can find beauty everywhere. It has the most beautiful state in the Union. Did you know that? Well, now you do. Most beautiful state in the Union.
So I'm making points with the Wisconsinites, but I don't know about anybody else. Certainly not those who live in Oklahoma, but I don't think there's anybody other than me that's here today from Oklahoma.
And it isn't Muskogee either. All right? They've never seen the beauty of God's creation and the abundance of it. But how about the spiritually blind? They have never seen the beauty of Christ and the abundance of him.
They're missing out. If you're not saved today, you're spiritually blind, and you have never seen the beauty of Christ. And let me say something kindly. You're missing out. You're missing out. Because he is altogether lovely and the fairest of 10 ,000 to our souls.
I'll think about those who are bruised. There are those that are oppressed, they're downtrodden, they're bullied. I was never bullied in high school. And I only weighed 140 pounds. But I had a friend.
His name was Dwayne Salzkorn. He was 6 '5". And he was my buddy, and nobody monkeyed with me, because I'd stick Dwayne onto him. But there are people that are bullied. Not only kids in school, people on their jobs are bullied.
They're intimidated. They're mistreated. And there's far too much of that in society today. Right here in the country that you and I live in. I can't speak for Canada. I'm sad to say it's not just limited to the dear unsaved, but it intrudes into church-going people.
Church-going people. And it has also made inroads into the assembly, sad to say, of the Lord's people. And it has intruded into Christian homes. You got a wife? You better love her. And you better tell her every day you love her.
You say, well, she knows that. Yeah, I know she knows that. But she wants to hear that from you. You got a wife? Communicate with her. I'm giving you people that aren't married and thinking about it some tips here.
And you got a wife? Well, when she's washing her hair, leave her alone. And don't sit in the driveway honking the horn on your car. She'll come. But when she gets there, you'll know all about it, because she'll just tell you where the cow ate the cabbage.
You know, this behavior has bruised and crushed the young and the old alike to the point of despair, causing some to take their own lives, young and old alike. And this isn't the solution. You know, Christ is the solution.
He is the great physician. He is the great healer. He can turn bad things around, casting all your cares upon Him. He cares for you. Trust the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding.
If you know, I would tell you a story about healing if I had the time, but I don't. But Brandon Dowell's dad could tell you the same story that I would tell you. But I'm not going to tell it to you. And I don't know whether Brandon knows it or not.
But it was pretty interesting, really. You know that Christ is anointed for this appointment to preach to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to recover the captive, to recover the blind, to liberate those that are bruised.
And this only Christ alone can accomplish. And the hymn writer has put it this way. Does Jesus care? And it continues on. Oh, yes, He cares. He cares for you. He is out there for you and for me, no matter what the situation might be.