of Him. To insist that we are whole, is to cast contempt upon the great Healer. It is to contradict His word, deny His mission, and refuse His grace. It is in the nature of sin to pervert the judgment; and so, as in the disorders of a fever, large numbers think themselves well. Such was Paul, "while alive without the law." Such was the Pharisee, who went up into the Temple to pray. Such were the Laodiceans, who said, "We are rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;" and such are all they who deny depravity, and trust in themselves that they are righteous. A conscious vileness is the first step toward a renovated life. The Church is a hospital; Christ is the resident Physician; and all who enter there come not as well persons, but as the "wounded, sick, and sore." Think of a sick man saying, "I will not be carried to the hospital; I will wait till I have recovered from this lameness, this wound, or this disorder, and I will walk in." We misapprehend our relations to Christ, if we are not willing to admit our sinful and lost condition. 3. We must submit the case. Knowledge of sickness and knowledge of the physician do not cure. Physicians come in answer to our call. They do not force their attentions; they prescribe when they are asked to do so. So the great Physician expects us to call upon Him that we may be saved. He does not compel us to accept His grace. He would have us agonize and be violently in earnest to obtain His help. The importunity of the Syrophoenician woman, the urgency of Bartimeus, the entreaty of Jairus, indicate the earnestness with which divine aid is to be sought. 4. We must follow the prescriptions. The best remedies are good for nothing if they are not used. The man who will not take medicine deserves to die. So, submitting ourselves to Christ, we must do what He bids. His methods are sometimes hard, painful, and trying. He mingles the bitter draught; He applies the cutting knife; He forbids the harmful viand. But it is by these means that He would make us well. Now, what reason have we to rejoice and give thanks that this Physician has appeared? If the inhabitants of a city where the plague was raging should learn that a personage had arrived with a positive cure, would they not receive him with delight? So should a dying and lost world welcome Christ's coming. Appreciating our state, and having knowledge of the cure and Curer, well may we sing, "Joy to the world!" or shout with the angels, "Glory to God!" And as the inhabitants of that city would flock about the remarkable visitor to express their gratitude, and to avail themselves of his knowledge and skill, so should a grateful and wondering world gather about the cross to welcome the great Healer, and receive from Him a knowledge of His divine discovery and the application of that remedy which gives life to the soul. "Thou great Physician of the soul, To Thee I bring my case; My raging malady control, And heal me by Thy grace. "Help me to state my whole complaint; Nor words, nor thoughts, can fully paint "Thou great Physician, hear my cry, Let not a trembling sinner die, Who longs to live to Thee." |