Looking for the Wounded

"The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds."—Ps. 147:2,3.In our text we see the Lord gathering outcasts, healing broken hearts and binding wounds. That is a picture of the Son of God. He is always doing that—gathering unto Himself outcasts, healing broken hearts and binding wounds. I am concerned with the third thing—binding up the wounds.

INTRO: 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. Not only that, she brought in Viet Cong soldiers along with the Americans.

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."

When I read this story I could not help but think, That’s our job. When I read about this nurse, so dedicated to the task of healing wounds that she would go onto the battlefield itself and drag in the wounded personally, I thought to myself, That’s our job.

When Jesus saved us, He could have taken us to Heaven right then; but He didn’t choose to do that. Instead, He left us here so we might go onto the battlefield of this old world and look for the wounded. Our job is to go out into the highways and hedges and look for the wounded.

Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). What is He saying? "GO! Look for the wounded." He said, "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in…" (Luke 14:23). GO! Look for the wounded! He said, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). What’s He saying? "GO! Look for the wounded!"

That nurse believed it was her solemn duty to find the wounded and bring them in where their wounds might be healed so that they might be sent back out into the battle. So it is with us.

Now, the work of the ministry is threefold. We are accused of being single-minded; but if you are going to be single-minded, be single-minded in looking for the wounded. I realize that the work of the ministry is to bring them in, build them up, send them out so they might bring some more in. But if we do not bring them in, we cannot do the other things.

Our primary job is to look for the wounded. We are to go out into the battlefields of this world and find them and bring them to the Great Physician who will bind up and heal their wounds; then we are to send them out into the battle to find other wounded.

But where did the war begin? Where did these souls receive their wounds? Well, for the answer to these questions, we have to go back to the very beginning, to Eden. There we see that man was wounded, first of all…

I. By Satan

This first great battle took place in the beautiful Garden of Eden. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7). Man stood before Almighty God as the masterpiece of His creation, and God said, ‘It is good.’ Then He gave man a command, saying to Adam, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (vss. 16,17). And the battle began!

Someone else was present in that garden—Satan. Satan began to tempt Eve, saying, "Eve, He doesn’t want your eyes to be opened. That’s the reason He told you not to eat of the forbidden fruit. Eve, your eyes will opened. You will be like God!"

She said, "We’ll die."

He whispered in her ear, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4).

She ate, and she gave to her husband, Adam, and he ate; and they were wounded by Satan. We see in the Garden of Eden that beautiful masterpiece that God created—man—fallen and wounded by Satan himself! Adam is naked now and stripped of every righteous rag. He is blind now. Satan has gouged out the eyes of his soul and left him in darkness. He is separated now. No longer does he have fellowship with God. Instead, he is hiding among the bushes.

But then God walked onto the battlefield. The Bible says that in the cool of the evening God came into the Garden and began to speak. "Adam…where art thou? Adam…where art thou?" (Gen. 3:9). What is He doing? Looking for the wounded. Adam and Eve had been wounded by Satan, but God was ready to heal their wound. He found them and clothed them in His righteousness.

But the battle that had its beginning in Eden began to spread until the whole world was covered. These two people, wounded by Satan, plunged the whole world into the darkness of sin.

Now we see the second wound. We see that men are wounded…

II. By Sin

That sin of disobedience that took place in the Garden of Eden began to grow until it covered the whole world like a plague and came up before Almighty God as a stench in His nostrils. "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth," and He said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth" (Gen. 6:6,7). Sin had done its duty! Sin had done its job!

But then the eyes of the Lord began to run to and fro across the earth. What was He doing? Looking for the wounded.

The eyes of the Lord fell on a man by the name of Noah, and "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6:8). God told him that He was going to destroy the world with a flood and to build an ark of safety. Just before the Flood came, God said to Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark" (Gen. 7:1). Noah and his family were saved. Mankind had a new start.

But the battle continued, and the wounded began to fall all over the entire world.

Third, we see men wounded…

III. By SocietyGod heals those wounds too. One night God called a man by the name of Abraham who was outside his tent. "Abraham, look up at the stars." In my mind’s eye I have pictured that so many times. Abraham, no doubt with his mouth hanging open, began to look up at the stars. God said, "Count them." But Abraham said, "I can’t count the stars; there are too many." God said, "So shall thy seed be" (Gen. 15:5).

He promised Abraham a son in his old age. His wife, Sarah, laughed, thinking it humorous that God would say something like that. But God asked, "Wherefore did Sarah laugh?…Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:13,14). I submit to you today that there is nothing too hard for Him. But for a long time it seemed as if God would not keep His promise; they had no children. Sarah, who had laughed at the idea that God would give her a child to begin with, said, "God is not going to keep His promise, so Abram, take my handmaid, Hagar, so that she might give us a child, an heir." Abraham obeyed his wife, and this was a mistake. He took Hagar, and Ishmael was born.

But God did keep His promise; God always keeps His promises. Not too long after that, Isaac was born. Ah, how they loved Isaac! He was the apple of their eye. How they loved him! Abraham now had an heir!

But what about Ishmael? Well, Sarah became jealous of Hagar and Ishmael and told her husband, "Cast them out. We don’t need them now." The society of Abraham no longer had any use for Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham gave them a little bottle of water and some food and sent them out into the desert.

They wandered into the desert until they had lost their way. Their water was gone, their food was gone, their hope was gone. Hagar took her son, Ishmael, and put him under a bush a little ways away from her so she wouldn’t have to watch him die. Then she sat down on the hot sand, waiting to die. Nothing in all that desert but silence.

But then the silence was broken as a voice said, "What aileth thee, Hagar?" (Gen. 21:17). That’s Almighty God speaking! What’s He doing in the desert? Looking for the wounded. He’s out in the desert because someone has been wounded by society. "What aileth thee, Hagar?"

He found them. He said, "I have seen you." He gave them water and healed their wound. Hagar and Ishmael had been wounded by society, cast out and left to die; but God had not cast them out.

A leper was wounded by society. This man had a disease that made him repulsive to all who looked upon him. When he walked down the street, he had to cover his lip and cry out, "Unclean! Unclean!" 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, born in Bethlehem’s manger, walked the shores of Galilee. There was One who loved outcasts. When He came from Heaven, He was looking for the wounded. The leper came close to the Lord Jesus Christ, saying, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean" (Matt. 8:2). What’s he saying? "I know You have the ability, but do You love me enough?" Immediately Jesus said, "I will; be thou clean" (vs. 3). One who had been wounded by society, who had been cast out, was all of a sudden taken back.

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 might have said, "Once I was pure as the snow, but I fell—fell like the snow, from Heaven to Hell." She was a fallen woman.

One day Jesus was going from Judea to Galilee. Now, 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. Did you know that a Samaritan was the only man under Heaven who could not be a proselyte to Judaism?

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? Why is He going 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. But He gave her living water. She went back to that city and said, "Come, see a man…" (John 4:29).

"Who is He?"

"I don’t know, but He is looking for the wounded."

If you have been cast out by society, He is looking for you. Thank God, He still finds outcasts!

I led a truck driver to Christ—one of the meanest men I had ever known. Little did he know at the time that he had multiple myoma, cancer of the bone marrow, that would take his life. He made me promise I would go and witness to his eighty-year-old father.

I went. Now, I love to talk to people about the Lord. I don’t have any problem with people insulting me, but this was the meanest man I had ever met. Before he got saved, the truck driver was an angel compared to his father.

When I began talking to him about the Lord Jesus, he began laughing at me. I checked my countenance to see if I had something on wrong; I didn’t know what he was laughing about.

He said, "You don’t believe all that garbage, do you?"

"Yes sir."

"You wouldn’t give your son to die for the drunkard on the street, would you?"

"No sir, I don’t have a son. I probably wouldn’t anyway; but nevertheless, God did," I answered.

Sneering, he said, "I don’t want to hear what you have to say! Get out of my house!"

I left. In about three months his granddaughter called me. "Would you go see Papa Morgan again? He’s in the hospital and about to die."

"When I went to see him he cursed me and told me to get out of his house," I told her.

She said, "I know, but I love him and don’t want to see him go to Hell."

When I got to the hospital, he saw me come in, and made like he was asleep. Did you ever have them do you that way? I got right down in his face and said, "HEY!"

"The doctor said I couldn’t have any visitors"—lying to me of course.

I said, "He doesn’t know I am here."

"He knows everybody; he knows you’re here. Get out! I can’t have visitors."

I tried to talk to him about the Lord; but he wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t even open his eyes.

Finally he said, "Get out, or I’m going to call the doctor!"

In four or five months his boy died, the one who had asked me to go see his father. At the funeral, when my wife witnessed to the old man he insulted her. Now, it is a lot easier for me to take being insulted than it is for me to see someone insult my wife. I was not around when he did it; I just began praying for him. I said, "There is no hope for that old guy."

Six months later his little granddaughter called again. "Would you go by the house and see Papa Morgan one more time?"

"Oh me! You know, I am not a masochist. That guy’s cussed me so many times…"

"Just go see him one more time; I know for sure he’s going to die this time."

"He’ll never die! He’s too mean!" I said.

"Go one more time—please."

"Okay."

I said to my assistant pastor, "We have to go see Papa Morgan."

He said, "Oh me!"

"Well, I am not going to let it ruin our day of visitation. We’ll take some cards and make some hospital visits. We’ll win somebody to Christ. Then we’ll go by there and let him cuss us out, then go home." Faith! Looking for the wounded.

We made our visits and had a good day. Finally I said, "Well, we have to go by and make that visit, you know."

It was springtime. When we got to the house, I could see him through the screen door. He had a big afghan pulled up over him. I thought, He’s ready for battle. He’s got a gun under that afghan. He’s going to shoot me this time!

We walked inside. One had to talk loud to him because he did not hear too well. When we stepped inside the door I said, "Amos, don’t you think it’s about time you got saved?"

"I sure do!"

Astonished I said, "What?"

"I sure do!" he answered.

"No, you don’t. You don’t believe all this stuff."

"Yes, I do!"

I felt like a dog! You see, although I had given up on him, God had not. The eyes of the Lord were running to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for the wounded! He was saying to me, "Clyde Box, there’s a wounded soul over there!"

"He’s dead," I said.

"No, he’s just wounded, and I can heal his wound."

He bowed his head, and we began to pray. He asked Christ to save him. We buried him six days later. Thank God, God found the wounded. Although I had given up, God had not given up!

But the battle for the souls of men continues. The whole world is the battlefield, and the war rages. The wounded are everywhere—wounded by Satan, wounded by sin, wounded by society.

We also see men wounded…

IV. By SelfI am not just talking about suicides; I am talking about pride. One of the greatest enemies of the soul is pride. "Pride goeth before destruction" (Prov. 16:18).

Because of pride, old Naaman almost missed being healed. Because of pride, Uzziah was struck down by leprosy. It was pride that caused Haman to be hanged on his own gallows. Pride is a deadly enemy of the soul. What do you think it was that caused the Pharisees to cry out, "We’ll not have this man to rule over us! Give us Barabbas"? Pride. Old Caiaphas shouted blasphemy so loud that he could not hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit trying to get him to realize that he was a wounded soul.

Pride causes men not to humble themselves. The battlefield of this old world is filled with the wounded souls of pride. Embarrassment sends them to Hell. Isn’t that strange? Too proud to humble themselves before Al-mighty God! Too proud to admit they are sinners! Too proud to weep! Too proud to pray! Too proud! Pride would send them to Hell, and it is our responsibility, our job, to see that it doesn’t. We are to go on the battlefields of this world and become fools for Christ’s sake so we might find the wounded.

When someone said to D. L. Moody, "Mr. Moody, don’t you know that the world is getting to be a better place to live in?" Moody replied, "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.’" Moody spent his life looking for the wounded.

C. T. Studd, that great missionary soul, gave away all of his money and spent his life on the mission field. He made one of the greatest statements outside the Word of God: "If Jesus Christ be God, and He died for me, then there is no sacrifice too great to make for Him." Studd was out looking for the wounded.

When I was first saved, I was given a class of twelve-year-old boys. I should have known after I had that class for awhile that God had called me to preach, because if you can handle a class of twelve-year-old boys, you can do anything! I resigned that class and nearly gave up being a Christian for awhile…that is, until I met Alvin. Alvin’s hair had never been combed. You couldn’t comb it—it had seven cowlicks! In fact, I think the cow had licked his whole head!

I went to visit him one night. He lived in a dirty apartment house. I made my way to the second floor. I knocked on the door. His mother answered the door and said, "Alvin’s gone." But she was so excited to see me. "Oh, he talks about you. Come on in. He’ll be back in a short while. He would just die if he missed you!"

I said, "I’ll come in for a minute." (I wanted to witness to her anyway.)

I began talking to her about the Lord. She said she was saved. I waited about fifteen or twenty minutes, and when Alvin didn’t show up, I said, "I’m going to have to go. I’ll come back."

She said, "Please don’t go. Wait just a little while longer. He’ll be here."

I waited a little while longer. After about fifteen more minutes, I stood up and started toward the door. "I must go. I’m sorry. I have some other visits to make."

She said, "I understand."

When I opened the door to leave, there Alvin stood, with his shirttail out. He always looked like he had been sleeping in his clothes, but his smile would capture your heart. Grinning from ear to ear he said, "I’m glad you’ve come to see me. Listen; you said something in Sunday school I want to know about. How can I be saved?"

I showed him from the Word of God how he could know Christ as his Saviour. We knelt together, and Alvin put his trust in the Lord.

He said, "I’ll be there Sunday for sure," pointing his finger toward me.

"Well, I’ll be looking for you." I knew he would come—nothing could keep him away.

Sunday came, but when he didn’t show up for Sunday school nor for church I was disappointed. Alvin always showed up.

While giving the invitation, I looked back and saw Alvin coming through the door. He was messed up all over! His hair was sticking up every which way, and his shirttail was out. He came forward, pointed his finger at me and said, "I told ya I’d be here!" He made his profession, and we baptized him. Then I found out what had happened.

On Saturday evening his drunken father had picked him up and had taken him from beer joint to beer joint. At twelve midnight on Saturday, while his father was drunk in a bar and Alvin was in the car, he remembered about coming to Sunday school. So he got out of the car and began walking toward the church. It was some thirty miles away, but he figured he could make it! He walked until he got so tired that he had to find a place to lie down. He found an unlocked car, crawled inside and went to sleep. The sun woke him up the next day—Sunday. That’s why he was late!

I loved that little twelve-year-old. He was one of the greatest guys! He moved a year later to Garland. Three years later I received a call. The preacher asked, "Do you remember Alvin Calwell?"

"Yes sir."

"He’s dead."

"Dead? How could he be dead? The boy is just fifteen years old! What in the world happened?"

"He was in a stock tank trying to get a biology specimen for school, and he drowned."

I fell on my face and began to weep. My heart was wounded. I thought, O dear God! He never had anything in this life. He never even had a father to love him. Why did he have to die like that?

Then I realized what I was saying. Why, I could see him in Heaven! He never had a father here, but he has a Father there. Then I got happy and began crying and laughing at the same time! I could see him in Heaven with his hair sticking every which way! Even the Lord couldn’t comb that hair! His shirttail would be out, but he was there because someone taught me how to go out into the battlefields of this world and look for the wounded; and I had the joy of leading that little fellow to Christ! Then I got to imagining that one day when I see him before the bema, the judgment seat of Christ, he will run up to me, stick that little finger up in my face, and say, "I told ya I’d be here! Now I’m here!"

This whole world is a battlefield. It’s exciting. I like to go out into the highways and hedges and knock on this door and that and wonder what God is going to do, see whom God is going to save. It’s exciting to look for the wounded.

Oh, give me, Lord, Thy love for souls,

For lost and wandering sheep.

Help me to see the multitudes,

And weep as Thou didst weep.

Help me to see the tragic plight

Of souls far off in sin;

Help me to pray, to love, to go

Bring the wandering in.

From off the altar of Thy heart,

Take Thou some flaming coal

And touch my life and give me, Lord,

A heart that’s hot for souls.

O fire of love! O flame divine,

Make Thy abode in me;

Burn in my heart, burn evermore,

’Til I burn out for Thee.

God help you, God help me to be like that nurse and tell the whole world, "I’m going to get on the battlefield." "What are you doing out there?"

"We’re looking for the wounded."

They’re everywhere, folks. The wounded are everywhere, and our job is to find them and bring them to the Great Physician who can heal their wounds.