St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-04-20
Sermon to the Broken Hearted"

Extracts from Mr.. Moody's sermon
at the Tabernacle, April IL, from the
text in the 4th chapter of Luke, part of
the 18th verse: 1.-The spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor ;
he hath sent me to heal the broken
hearted.']
Last night | was trying to tell you
what the gospel was to-day L want to
speak about Christ helping the broken
hearted. Now you ask most people
what Christ came to do, and they will
say He came to save sinners, and there
they will stop, and it seems as if not
more than one in hundred found that
Christ came to do anything else. But
that is only part of his mission. He
came to save sinners, but he also came
to declare the Father. We would not
know about the love of the Father for
IA lost world but for him, and we would
not know this precious comforting truth
OF Christ healing the broken hearted if
he had not come.
| want to call your attention, in the
first place, to that little word "sent."
If Christ was no more than some men
make him out to he, how can he heal
the broken hearted? No human being
can heal the broken hearted-that must
be the work of some one more than
man. We cannot heal our broken
hearts, much less the broken hearts of
others. He says plainly, ''God sent
me-" Now | want to call your atten-
ton to some passages where this word
''sent" is mentioned by the Master him
self. In one place God says he sent
him not to condemn the world: the Son
of Man is not come to destroy mems
lives, but to give and save them. In
that wonderful Epistle of John, 4th
chapter aud 9th verse, are these words {:
sin this was manifested the love of
God toward us, because that God sent
his only 6egotten Son into the world
that we might live through him"
Now if God sent him into
the world, what did he send him to do
He says, to preach the gospel to the
poor, to heal the broken hearted, to
proclaim deliverance to the captives, to
restore sight to the blind and set at
liberty them that are bruised. Is Christ
able to do what he is sent forP Can
you find a place where a man has been
sent by God and has failed God called
Moses and told him to g. into Egypt
and bring the children of Israel out Of
bondage and take them into Canaan.
Moses looked at him and said, 81 eau
not" We would have called an army
to do that work, but the Lord said, 81
send you" But, Lord, | am slow of
speech" said Moses; perhaps he had
an impeachment in his speech but the
Lord said, "Who made thy mouth,
Moses ?" 1t took great army for us
to liberate the slaves, but when God
was with Moses, one man was enough.
God sent him and he could not fail, and
we find all through Scripture that Il
man that had been sent by God could
not fail. God sent Joshua to take the
place of Moses, and he subdued the
whole country, and the kings could not
stand against him. If man has been
sent by God he cannot fail. You see
how he sent out Gideon with 300 men
he could not fail, because God sent him.
God sent Elijah to stand before Ahab.
So all along, you will find that where
a man is sent by God he has not failed.
John the Baptist, was sent by God, and
did he fail till his work was done ?
Didn't he accomplish what God sent
him to do? Gods own Son came in
the fulness of time, and do you think
he is going to fail 2 You tell me that
he has not the power to heal the broken
hearted, but there is not weeping,
mourning, broken, crushed heart in
Boston but the Son of God can heal, for
God sent him for that purpose. God
sent him into this world to heal the
broken hearted. 1t says in this prophecy
of Isaiah that God sent him to bind up
the broken hearted, but when Christ
came to read that prophecy he seemed
to put it little stronger: ale has sent
me to heal the broken heartfelt You
may bind up wound and not heal it,
but the Lord does more than that, he
heals every broken heart that is brought
to him.
Some one has said that God has one
son without sin, but not one without
sorrow. You cannot find one here but
has some sorrow. As the saying is,
there is skeleton in every family. |
Walk up and down these streets and
go from house to house, and every fam
lily has some sad story to tell. People
think that because others are rich they
do not have troubles and sorrows, but |
they are mistaken. Walk through
Beacon street and you cannot find
house where they will not tell you some
sad story. From Beacon street to the
meanest hOvel in the North End you
will find those that have some great
sorrow. How the world ought to hail
this text! How the world ought to re-
jOice to think that God has sent his Son
down to this world to heal the broken
hearts and comfort them that mourn in |
Zion