Good singing this evening. Turn in your Bibles, if you would, tonight to two passages. First of all, turn to Luke chapter 4, Luke chapter 4, and put a finger in there at Luke chapter 4, and then turn back to the book of Isaiah chapter 61. Luke chapter 4 and Isaiah chapter 61 this evening. And with the Lord's help, in the next few minutes, I'd like to speak to you on the subject of healing for the brokenhearted. It's interesting when you begin to study in the scriptures how often the concept of a broken heart is mentioned. And we'll talk about what that means in just a little bit, but over and over again, the scriptures talk about A heart being broken, especially in the book of Psalms, this theme is developed, but in many other places as well. And then, when you study this idea of a broken heart, it's really interesting when you link it together with the purpose of Christ's coming and what it was that Christ was going to accomplish in His earthly ministry. We're going to read Isaiah 61 first. And then we'll go back to Luke chapter 4 and we'll stay in Luke chapter 4 for the rest of the evening. But Isaiah chapter 61 and verse number 1, the scripture says this, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." I love verse 3, don't you? God's purpose in our life and what it is that He's up to, what He's accomplishing. Now turn with me back to Luke chapter 4, and direct your attention to verse 16 if you would. Luke chapter 4 verse 16, this incident which is recorded in the Gospel of Luke takes place just after the temptation of Christ by the devil And then Christ comes back into the region of Galilee, and verse number 16 says that he 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 Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the 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 hath 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 he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bear him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. Now as we were reading through there, and what a fabulous passage describing the purpose of Jesus Christ, and that was the intention as Jesus was announcing the beginning of His public ministry, and He was revealing that He Himself was the fulfillment of the prophecy made in Isaiah chapter 61, a prophecy well known to the biblical scholars of that day, and Jesus was saying to them, This day, the day that you are hearing me read these words, this prophecy is being fulfilled in your ears. Now there's many things that Isaiah 61 says about the ministry of the Messiah, but there's one of those things that I want to call our attention to tonight. And then I'd like to spend some time talking about what this means. As Jesus pointed out, as He's reading from Isaiah 61, right in the middle of verse 18, He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted. As I was thinking about this, I was reminded that all around us, even tonight right here in our congregation, Every day of our life, we're surrounded by people who are brokenhearted. People bear incredibly heavy burdens and they're living with the effects of a broken heart. There's many reasons for a broken heart. Sometimes a broken heart is referred to as emotional pain. And when I talk about that pain, I mean, it's not physical, but it's so real that it feels like physical pain. It is a pain in the heart that comes from some sort of burden that is being carried. For instance, Many people today have a broken heart over the loss of some loved one, a friend, a relative, a spouse, a child, a parent. They grieve still over the loss of that one that they were so, so loved and now that person is gone and they bear the weight of that grief. Sometimes people ask, when does grief end? Well, I think the truth is Grief never really comes to an end until we get to heaven. There's always going to be some measure of grief. Some people have a broken heart because of relationships that have been broken. Maybe in their family they've had some relationships break apart and it's awful to watch people go through. this sort of trauma in their family where perhaps a son or a daughter, a spouse walks away and a relationship is broken and it seems as if there's no hope for mending that relationship. This creates a heavy burden in a person's heart. Still others have a broken heart because they've been rejected. and they sense that they're rejected by others, perhaps they've been rejected by one specific person, or perhaps they feel as if many people in their lives have rejected them for one reason or another, and there could be many reasons why this might take place, but they sense, they feel that rejection, and because of that, they bear a heavy burden in their heart. Still others, have a broken heart because of disappointment in their life. Their life has just not turned out the way that they thought it was going to. They had in their mind that things would be a certain way, that they imagined that surely if I do things the right way then this is how it's going to turn out and instead they're left with disappointment and things aren't exactly what they thought they were going to be. Unfulfilled expectations can cause a broken heart. Many people are carrying a broken heart tonight because of abuse that they've faced in their life. That abuse can take many forms. It could be physical abuse. It could be sexual abuse. It could be emotional abuse. And all these forms of abuse leave deep wounds upon a person's heart. And oftentimes the person whose heart is broken may not even realize how much the abuse that they faced contributed to that broken heart. Still others have a broken heart because there's been a betrayal of trust in their life. Someone that they were close to, someone that they trusted betrayed them. I was just reading in my own devotions today about Absalom. and how he betrayed his father and led the entire kingdom against his father and rose up and asked the entire kingdom to follow him and set himself up as the king. And I thought, what must David have gone through when his own son set himself up in that way and exalted himself against his father's authority? Many people have a broken heart because of unhealthy relationships. Now, it's interesting how many of the contributing factors to a broken heart are related to other people and what other people may be able to do to us. Sometimes the broken heart that we feel is the result of our own poor choices And sometimes it's the result of what someone else has done to us and many times it's a combination of those two things together. A broken heart can be so intense that it actually causes physical pain and it manifests itself in physical diseases. Do you know that there are people who are sick with illness that doctors cannot heal because the root of the illness is not physical at all? It's in the heart. It's something that they are bearing in their heart, a broken heart. Do you know many of the Psalms in our Bible speak about the intense pain of a broken heart and a search for the resolution to that pain? We call them the Psalms of Lament. It's likely tonight that all of us will experience the pain of a broken heart. at some time in our physical lives. In fact, to varying degrees, I would estimate that nearly every person in the auditorium tonight knows what I'm talking about and has a sense of what it means to have a broken heart. And maybe even you've had that broken heart and you've kind of learned to just get through life and, okay, I just go about my business, but it's always there. And when you're reminded of it, it springs up and reminds you of how much it hurts. And the truth is, tonight every one of us needs to learn how to deal with having a broken heart. Tonight I want to show you from the scriptures that despite the deep and grievous pain that can afflict our hearts, and it can happen, God has an answer. so that this emotional pain needs not to derail our walk with God and our potential to serve him. The saddest possible thing would be for some sort of hurt, some sort of a trauma or a pain that is inflicted upon you to end up causing you to withdraw from the Lord himself. When the Lord is the only one who can comfort you, he's the only one who can help you. Now as I think about this, I was drawn to Luke chapter 4 and I was meditating on what Jesus said as he quoted from Isaiah 61 when he said about himself and about his purpose, he said, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted. Jesus came to heal broken hearts. And you say, well, how could that possibly be? How would it be possible for Christ to heal broken hearts? So, three thoughts tonight. First of all, I want you to understand that Jesus identified with our broken heart. Jesus himself experienced what it is to have a broken heart. Think for a minute about some of the experiences that Jesus had during his earthly life and ministry, which, if you think about it, we were just talking about a whole list of contributing factors to someone having a broken heart. Jesus experienced every single one of them in his life. Think about this, Jesus grieved over the loss of his dear friend Lazarus in John chapter 11. And the Bible, in one of the most touching verses in the Bible, tells us that Jesus wept. He wept not because he did not know what he would do. He didn't weep because he was powerless at the grave of Lazarus, but he wept because he was touched with the feeling of what was taking place there, the loss that had taken place that had affected Mary and Martha. He grieved. He knew what it was to sorrow. In fact, in the prophecy in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, Jesus was called the man of sorrows. He also had many people who started out to follow Him. They declared themselves as disciples of Jesus, but then they turned away. John chapter 6 tells us about one such incident where Jesus was speaking with His disciples, and of course, He had preached a message, and that message was difficult, and the result of the message that He preached was that literally thousands of people who had gathered to hear Him turned around on their heel and walked away. Now, I'd like to think that I could be resilient in the face of such a thing, but I'll tell you tonight that if all of you got up out of your seats and walked out of here telling me, we want nothing to do with you, I would be questioning my calling. I would be questioning whether there was something wrong with me. Yet Jesus faced this not once, but a number of times in his ministry where everyone walked away from him. Jesus faced rejection. Eventually, He was rejected by so many people that the religious leaders were able to stir up the multitude to cry out, crucify Him! And He had done nothing wrong. Do you know Jesus was even rejected by His own half-brothers? The Bible tells us that those children who were born to Joseph and Mary after the miraculous conception and birth of the Lord Jesus Christ rejected Jesus. They wanted nothing to do with Him. They would not believe on Him and they would not follow Him. And that was not resolved until after the resurrection. So during the entire earthly ministry of Jesus, His own family wanted nothing to do with Him. The people in his own hometown and region could not accept his teaching or the truth about his identity. We read about that in our family devotions this morning and it's also found here in Luke chapter 4 at the conclusion of this message that he preached there in the synagogue that the people that were gathered there wanted nothing to do with him because they said, oh, that's just Jesus. We watched him grow up. We know who He is. We know who His dad is. We know the place where He lived. And we saw Him grow up since He was this big. You know, He couldn't have much to say. Could you imagine being the Messiah and having the people closest to you, who ought to recognize who you are, turn their back on you? But Jesus faced that. Jesus also was falsely accused and misunderstood, even by those who were close to Him. Even His disciples at times misunderstood Him. You may recall on a couple of different occasions, some of His disciples would try to rebuke Him for something that He said or something that He did. And of course, Jesus wasn't wrong. But can you imagine the emotions of being rebuked by those who are supposed to be following you? Because they misunderstood. And of course His enemies falsely accused Him and eventually that resulted in Jesus being put on a cross. Jesus faced tremendous physical abuse. When He went to the cross, the religious leaders and the Roman soldiers beat Him. And the Bible says they beat Him to the point that He was unrecognizable as a man. You think about the kind of abuse physically that he faced in addition to emotional and verbal abuse at the hands of the religious leaders who were always falsely accusing him and saying things about him like he had a demon and he was demon possessed and he was doing the works of Satan and all sorts of things like that. Even Judas, who was one of his most trusted followers, betrayed his trust When he met him in the garden, he kissed him to reveal that he was the one to be taken away to trial. And it wasn't just Judas, because all the rest of the disciples ran away, too. All of them fled and left Jesus alone. Christ identified with our broken heart. You might be sitting here tonight saying, nobody knows what I've gone through. Nobody's faced the pain that I've faced. Nobody's had the difficulties that I've had to go through. Nobody could possibly understand all the things that I've had to deal with. I propose to you tonight that the Bible is not joking when it says in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 15, For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Praise God, when we come before the throne of grace, we have a high priest who understands, we have a high priest who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, a high priest who can identify with our broken heart. When you fall on your face before God and you begin pouring out your broken heart to your great high priest, he says, I understand you. I've been there. He identifies with our broken heart. It's a wonderful thing. He'll never patronize you. He'll never pat you on the head and say, there there now, it's okay. He understands and He cares. But not only has He identified with our broken heart, we also find in the scriptures that He is the great physician. He calls Himself the Great Physician. He reminds us that He's come to heal the sickness of man, and specifically He's speaking about the soul sickness of man, the spiritual sickness that man struggles with. And here in our text in Luke chapter 4, when Jesus says, He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, that's what He's referring to. That word, brokenhearted, is a vivid word. It has the idea of my, you know, sometimes, I guess the other day, one of my kids was doing something in the kitchen and knocked something off the counter. And when that thing hit the floor, it went into a whole bunch of glass pieces everywhere. Now, that's what the word brokenhearted means. It means like you took a club and there was a piece of pottery and you hit it and you smashed it into smithereens. So when Jesus is talking about coming to heal brokenhearted people, he's talking about people whose hearts are rent, people whose hearts are broken into shivers. That's literally what the word means. People who are shattered by the loss that they have faced. And yet Jesus said, I came to heal the brokenhearted. When, when, When my kids knocked that on the floor the other day, we didn't say, oh, let's gather up all the pieces and glue it back together. We said, well, get a broom, get some stuff to clean it up. It's gone in the garbage. We're throwing it away. But aren't you thankful tonight, brethren, that when your heart is broken, the Lord doesn't sweep you in a dustpan and put you in the trash can? He says, let me mend the pieces. Let me take your broken heart and let me put it back together again. He's a healer. He's able to take the broken pieces and mend them again. And there's many illustrations of this in the Gospels. There was a time that there was a palsied man who couldn't walk, and his friends wanted him to meet Jesus. And so four of his friends brought him, and they took the roof apart where Jesus was at, and they led him down through the roof to Jesus, right there in the middle of the crowd. And this guy, could you imagine? Right here in the ceiling, a hole appears, and a guy comes down through, and Jesus says, what's going on here? He needs to be healed and He restored that man. Do you remember how He healed him and then that man took his bed and he walked out of there? Can you, now you say, okay, well, that was a physical healing, but it was about more than just a physical healing. Because here's a man whose life was destroyed and Jesus gave him his life back. He gave him hope. He gave him direction. He gave him something to live for. There was another time when there was a man who was filled with leprosy and you know, lepers weren't allowed to come around people. They had to cry out that they were unclean. because, of course, they were quite contagious, and everybody wanted to stay away from them, but not Jesus. Jesus went right to that leprous man, and He came up close to him, and He touched him, and He healed him. Now, I don't know if you can appreciate what it must have felt like to go from not having leprosy and being cut off from society to, all of a sudden, no leprosy. Now I can live my life. Now I have hope. Now I have something to live for. There was another time where there was a man who was blind from his birth. The Bible is careful to tell us that he had never seen in all of his life. And Jesus found that man. and he went and he healed him, and that man's sight was restored. What's even more phenomenal in that chapter, which I believe is John chapter 9, is that that man came back to find Jesus, or Jesus came and connected with him, and that man, whose physical eyes were opened, began to talk to Jesus and discovered who he was, and not only were his physical eyes opened, but his spiritual eyes were opened. And Jesus healed his brokenness. I was reminded when I was meditating about Lazarus dying and how that must have affected Jesus and touched his heart. Of course, he wept. I'm reminded of how tenderly he dealt with Mary and Martha in that same chapter who were sorrowing and grieving because their brother had died. And of course they came to Jesus, and Martha, she was kind of accusatory, and Mary, she was more gentle, but they both wanted to know, Lord, where were you? Why didn't you come? Our brother died. We know that you could have healed him if you'd only come sooner. This didn't have to happen. And Jesus so tenderly comforted them, and he cared for them, and he spoke to them about this. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he gave them something to hope for, and then of course he raised Lazarus from the dead. Now, when we speak about Jesus being the great physician, many people get stuck on the idea, I want someone to relieve my physical circumstances. Most people, when they talk about healing, what they're interested in is, make my life better, take away the pain, make me feel better, make everything easier, take my disease, make life perfect. And you know, it's nice if God works in your life to free you from some sort of a physical burden or an impediment, and certainly God is able to do that. He's good. He's gracious. He's powerful. He can deliver from those things. But do you know that every person who was healed by Jesus in the Gospels eventually died? Every single one of them. And so there's something more important than physical healing and the relief of our physical circumstances. Most of us think, if my physical circumstances could be resolved, then my broken heart would be mended. But God knows something else, because Jesus meets a deeper need. And do you know that Jesus is able to mend or heal a broken heart without even removing the physical circumstances? Without taking away the relational trauma that's at the core of our emotional pain of our broken heart, He is still able to mend our broken heart, even if the circumstances never change. That gives us hope because the reality is many of the things that cause us to have a broken heart are impossible to change. They are things that have already happened and can never be undone. They can never be forgotten. They can never be taken away because they are already present in our life. They are already a part of our life. Many of the things that cause us to have a broken heart may be conditions that we live in or situations that we are a part of that are not going to change this side of heaven. It's just the reality. If we thought the only way to be delivered from a broken heart was to have our circumstances changed, then we would have to give up hope. But we have a God who is able to help us even in the midst of our circumstances. He's able to provide tremendous healing to our heart, even in the middle of difficult, difficult things that we deal with. Now, I do need to point out to you, as we think about Jesus being the great physician, It's sad, but many people look in the wrong place for relief from their broken heart. They go to all the wrong places and if you look in the wrong place for relief, it's likely to perpetuate the pain and it can even cause new pain, new reasons for a broken heart. I was thinking about this, you know, we sometimes talk about young people, I guess older people could do this too. And we see it on social media. I'm in a relationship, and then their status changes, no longer in a relationship, and then the pictures are scrubbed. And you say, what happened? What took place? And I'm not trying to make light of that because, you know, that can create some tremendous emotional pain, a tremendous brokenness of heart when there is a broken relationship like that. But we're talking about what do people do? Sometimes people, they're trying to dull the pain of a broken relationship so they quick latch on to another relationship. And we call it, they're on the rebound. And we say, oh, that's not good. They're in too much of a hurry. They're not taking their time. And why are they doing that? Because they think, well, I have this hurt from this broken relationship, from this loss. If I just get another relationship, I'll feel better. Not necessarily. Many people today are looking to substance abuse to dull the pain. They've got to dull the pain. They've got to make themselves feel better. And so they turn to drugs and alcohol. And you say, well, I'm not that kind of a person. You know, I don't do that sort of a thing. You know, there's lots, lots and lots of people who would never touch drugs or alcohol who try to dull the pain with food. And they think, you know, if I could, I'll just eat my favorite foods. I'll just make myself feel better. Whenever I feel bad, I'll just eat something. And it's so destructive. It causes such problems in their life. Many people today are fleeing to entertainment and social media and all sorts of other places. Any sort of an escape that they can create to get out of the reality that they're living in, to stop feeling the pain and the hurt that is in their heart, Still others are workaholics and they just decide, I'm going to go hide at work. I'm going to lose myself and my work or some other pursuit. I'm going to develop this other pursuit. I'm going to pour myself into that, try to find meaning. But the problem is they never really deal with the broken heart. They're going to all the wrong places to solve the problem. And it's not much of a surprise that a little bit down the road, they're still dealing with a broken heart. And oftentimes now, they have reasons that are multiplying for having a broken heart. Now, we saw that Christ is the great physician. We know that he has the capacity to heal the brokenhearted because that's what he says in the text. And we know this is a prophecy about the Messiah. And Jesus is saying, this is why I came today, this day, these things, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. This scripture was written about Jesus. Jesus is saying, if you want to have your broken heart healed, you've got to come to him. And that leads us to the third thought tonight, and I'll not be long, but hopefully it will be encouraging. Because what we find in the scriptures is that the gospel provides the answer to our broken heart. That's what Jesus said. He said, as He was reading here in this place, and it says it in Isaiah 61 too, He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. And this preaching of the gospel, this proclamation of the good news, is that which provides for the healing of the brokenhearted. Do you know tonight that the gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ? You and I can find relief for our broken heart by embracing the gospel. Now, hear me out. Because you're probably thinking, Pastor, I'm already saved. I embrace the gospel. That's not what I'm talking about. I mean, I trust you are saved. That's the first step to finding the healing that Christ is offering, is to come to Him and embrace Him, receive the gospel, obey the gospel. That's definitely important. But you know what? As Christians, we have to continue preaching the gospel to ourselves. We have to continue coming to the gospel fountain and drinking from that good news and reminding ourselves of what Jesus has done, reminding ourselves of that which Jesus has provided. What is the gospel? 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1-4 defines the gospel for us and reminds us what this good news is. First of all, we find that Christ died for our sins. Christ died for our sins. Now, that's an astounding statement. Because what that means is that the eternal Son of God died. The Ever-Living One was subject to human death, and the reason that He died was for my sins. He died because I have sinned against Him, because I am unable to reconcile myself to God. Jesus Christ faced death for me. I believe death may be the most traumatic foe that we face. When people realize their own mortality, And they face the loss of loved ones, it touches them deeply, and it leaves us with a broken heart. Because we realize that death is something we don't understand it. It's something that is outside the bounds of being able to fully define and comprehend. And we realize, okay, this is difficult dealing with death. And you know this, if you've ever taken your children to a funeral or had a loved one in your family die and try to explain to a young person what has happened and why they're not here anymore and the separation and all of that stuff, that's why the Bible says that death is such a foe to us. But listen to me, brethren, Jesus faced death. In fact, in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse number 9, the Bible tells us that Jesus tasted death for every man. What a marvelous truth, that Christ died for our sins. The Bible tells us that He also was buried. His body was put into the tomb, and it speaks to us of the finality of death. His death was definite. Some people today say, oh, we're not sure if Jesus really died. You know, maybe He just passed out on the cross, and they put His body in the tomb, and there in the coolness of the tomb, He revived, and all of a sudden, He woke up, and then He was able to get out. That's ridiculous. That is ridiculous. He was definitely dead and he was buried. His body was put in the tomb. It was affirmative. They knew that he was dead. But then the third part of the gospel is that Christ raised from the dead. He raised from the dead. And we're reminded in the resurrection, which we'll celebrate especially in just a few days here on Resurrection Sunday, we're reminded that Jesus Christ has power over everything. There is nothing that Jesus does not have power over. He exhibited the power of the resurrection. No power can overcome the power of Christ. And then, remarkably, we are told that we can appropriate the power of His resurrection. We can live in the power of His resurrection. And here, in this place of the gospel, is where we can find the answer to our broken heart. Now, you might ask, how so, pastor? How does the gospel provide an answer to our broken heart? Well, the gospel, what Christ did for us, changes everything. It changes everything about the circumstances that we face in our life. It changes everything about the wrongs that have been done to us. It changes everything about our disappointments with how things have gone and how we thought they might be. It changes everything about our perspective. And in at least six ways it changes our life. First of all, the gospel enables us to receive forgiveness from God for wrongs that we have done. Do you know there are many people whose hearts are broken because of their own failures? Because I failed, I sinned, I did these wrongs. And a lot of times people talk about, I can't forgive myself. I just am not able to forgive myself for the things that I've done. And I understand what they're trying to say, but the reality is you don't need to forgive yourself. You need to receive the forgiveness that God has offered to you through Christ. You'll try in vain to forgive yourself, but Jesus atoned for your sins. And when you receive the gospel, when you believe on Christ, the Bible says that you can experience forgiveness of sins. That's a wonderful truth. That my sins will never be held over me by God. That I'll never have to answer for those sins because I've already forgiven. This causes significant joy. and excitement to realize I'll never be held to account for those things before the presence of God. Second of all, the gospel enables us to forgive others who have wronged us. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32. Remember, as we pointed out, the reasons for a broken heart, almost all of them were linked back to things that people can do to us. And it is incredibly freeing to be able to say, I'm not holding that against them. I'm not going to try to get retribution. It's not my place to get vengeance. I'm willing to extend forgiveness. I hope that they can get right with God. I'm not going to hold that against them. Do you know, when you allow yourself to become bitter about the hurt that other people have inflicted on you, you're not hurting them, you're hurting yourself. And so the gospel allows us, because we've experienced forgiveness, it allows us to extend that forgiveness to others, and that's freeing. Third of all, the gospel allows us to find peace with God. There's nothing like peace in your soul. We talked about it in a previous message in this series, so I'll not spend a lot of time on it, but I want you to understand that comes because of the gospel. It comes because of what Jesus has done. And when I have peace in my soul between me and God, reconciliation has taken place, then that enables my heart to be mended for my broken heart to be healed. Fourth of all, the gospel can bring healing in our man-to-man relationships. Because of that ability to forgive others, we find that we have the capacity then to reconcile human relationships, to reconcile wrongs that have been done between brothers and sisters. And the Bible talks about this. In fact, there are several times in the New Testament where the word reconciliation is used in the perspective of salvation, but it's not used concerning reconciliation from man to God. It's concerning the reconciliation between a Jew and a Gentile who are brought close to each other because they both have the same Savior. And so we can experience reconciliation in our man-to-man relationships because of what Christ has provided, fifth of all, The gospel changes us and it mends our broken heart because it raises our expectations to what God can provide. And what is it that God can provide? Well, the gospel informs us that God desires to provide us with eternal life and hope. And so that's a totally different perspective than being weighed down by the broken heart, by the circumstances, by the difficulties that we face, because I no longer have to allow those things to dictate my life and my direction. I have a higher calling. I have a better destiny than a broken heart. I'm headed to eternal life and hope. Isn't it a wonderful thing to think that one day when your eyes close in death, you'll wake up in the presence of your heavenly Father? We were singing about it tonight. Number six, the gospel changes everything because it invites us to the place of prayer. Do you know, it's because of the gospel that we can pray. If it wasn't for Christ and what he did on the cross and his substitutionary atonement, we would have no right to come into the presence of God before the throne of grace. But the book of Hebrews chapter four tells us the reason we can come, the reason we're invited and called to that throne of grace, to bring our petitions, to bring our burdens, to bring our broken heart, is because of what Christ has done. Now because of that, because of the gospel, I can come into the very presence of God and I can pour out my heart to God and turn my pain over to Him. And here's what is even more astounding, and I've already mentioned it. He cares. He cares. He wants to hear. Sometimes you'll hear people say, well, I don't want to complain in prayer. No, no. Just talk to God about what's on your heart, because He cares about what's in your heart. You can be honest with Him. You say, are you sure? Have you ever read the book of Psalms? Have you ever seen some of the things that the psalmist prayed about and brought to the Lord and said, Lord, what about this? And what about this burden? And look at this thing that's taking place. And it's wonderful because the gospel allows us to have a place where we can bring our burden and we can put it in the hands of someone who can do something about it. Most of the time when we're talking about our problems with other people, they can't do a thing about it. They may be an empathetic listener, they may be compassionate, they may be caring, but they can't do a thing about it to fix it. But when you come to God, He can do something about it. And He can do something in you to heal the broken heart that you're bringing to Him. Now this is such a significant truth and such an important part of this spiritual clinic series that I'm preaching through that I'm going to have a whole message about how prayer brings healing in our life. So I'm just going to say that much because I'll deal with it in a future message. But that's all linked back to the gospel and the purpose of Christ. And remember, please don't forget tonight that Jesus came to heal the broken hearted. If you're here tonight, you say, Pastor, I've got a broken heart. I've got some things I'm wrestling with. I've got some hurt and some pain in my past. Some things people have done to me. I've been disappointed. My life hasn't turned out the way I thought it would. I've got these struggles and I don't know what to do with them. Please, tonight, if you could just hear this. If you've heard nothing else, hear this. Come to Jesus. Remember what He said? Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That's a wonderful promise, and I believe the Savior is still saying it tonight. Come to Him. Bring your broken heart and come to Him, and He'll provide you rest. He'll provide you healing like you've never experienced before. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time together. We praise you. We worship you. You're such a good and gracious and loving Father, and you've provided so much for us and to us in Christ, and I pray Father, that you would help those who are here tonight even struggling with broken hearts. I pray you'd help them to find hope in Jesus and help in the Word of God. Help us tonight as we spend time in prayer. Help us to really talk to you and help us to bring our burdens before your throne. Be glorified in this prayer time, we pray, and we ask these things in Jesus' name.