This to the world with a commiffion to heal fouls. commiffion he opened and read at the beginning of his miniftry, Luke iv. 18. and still after owned it to be his bufinefs to heal fouls, Mat. ix. 12, 13. In this office of healer, he was held forth and typified of old by the brazen ferpent that healed the ftung Ifraelities, John iii. 14. and by the sun of righteousness that rifeth to us with healing under the wings, Mal. iv. 2. and by the tree of life, whofe leaves were for the healing of the nations, Rev. xxii. 2. The Lord Jefus Chrift being God-man, is nobly qualified to be our foul-physician; for, 1. He hath infinite knowledge and skill for taking up all diseases, with their causes, and the proper remedies for them, fo that he can never mistake the cafe of the afflicted, nor make wrong applications for their cure. 2. He hath fovereign authority and almighty power, whereby he can command difeafes to come and go at his pleasure. 3. He hath infinite pity and readiness to help the diftreffed as he bath in him the compaffion of a God, fo he hath alfo the bowels of a man, which endows him with a peculiar tenderness of heart towards us, as being touched with the feeling of our infirmities; and hence he is inclined many times to come to the fick without being fent for, to the poor who have nothing to give him, and to be found of them who never fought him. On this account Chrift is represented by the good Samaritan that came to the wounded man that fell among thieves, and was lying by the way fide, in a helpless cafe; the diftreffed man fent not for him, but he came of himself, he pitied him and took him up, and poured wine and oil into his wounds. 4. He hath wonderful patience towards the diftreffed, he doth not leave them for their unthankful carriage, and the abuses he gets from them, but bears with them all, and refolutely goes on with his defigned applications, till the cure be perfected. He knows if he should caft them off, none else could take them in hand, and death would infallibly be the iffue. That the Lord Jefus might convince us the more of his compaffion and readinefs to heal difeafed fouls, he readily readily cured men's bodies when he was on earth, and put none away that came to him. His defign in this was to encourage us to come to him with our foul-maladies, and to afford us a strong prop to our faith, and an argument to, plead with him, and fay, "Lord, thou didft fhew compaffion to diseased bodies that must rot in the earth, and wilt thou not be moved with pity to precious fouls that will live for ever? Did the diseases of bodies draw out thy bowels, and shall not the wounds of fouls affect thee much more? Was it not thy main errand to heal fouls, O reject not those which are laid down at thy feet." The FOURTH HEAD. I propofed, in the 4th place, to enquire into the nature of the balm, and means of healing, which the Phyfician makes ufe of. In the first place, the blood of Christ may justly be called the balm of Gilead, that heals fouls, for it is the meritorious caufe of our health and cure, and purchases all under means of healing to us. This is evident from Ifa. liii. 5. "He was wounded for our tranfgreffions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chaftifement of our peace was upon him, and with his ftripes we are healed." Our glorious Physician faw that no less than his blood and stripes, his fuffering and dying in our room, could fatisfy juftice, and obtain pardon to take away the guilt and punishment of fin, and procure the graces of the Spirit to remove the power and pollution of fin, and therefore he willingly theds all his blood for curing us of the diseases of fin. This blood then is our healing balm. Though the fcripture fpeaks of other means of healing, which our Phyfician makes ufe of, yet we are to understand that all these are used in subferviency to Chrift's blood, which is the bleffed meritorious mean of our cure, the only balm that procures all the other means of healing to us; fome of which I fhall mention; as, I. The Spirit of God, with his faving operations in fouls, is the great mean of healing, which our bleeding Saviour procured for us. He fends the Spirit to intimate the pardon of fin to the wounded confcience, and thereby cures the foul of its fears of wrath. And for VOL. III. G curing curing the power and pollution of fin, he fends the Spi rit to heal and change the nature, to fubdue fm, infufe grace, and incline the foul to holiness. And, to ren der the cure univerfal through all the faculties of the foul, he enlightens the understanding, renews the will, foftens the heart, fanctifies the memory, makes the confcience tender and lively, and sets the affections upon right objects. Now, all thefe operations of the Spirit are the purchase of Chrift's blood, as is clear from Gal. iii. 13, 14. "Chrift hath redeemed us from the curfe of the law, being made a curfe for us, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." May the Lord fulfil that promife to us, for healing our fick fouls and our fick land. II. The word and ordinances of Chrift are another mean he makes ufe of for healing our fpiritual difeafes. These are the leaves of the tree of life, which are for healing of the nations. As the word is a mean in the hand of Chrift, and his Spirit for breaking and wounding the hard heart, and therefore called a hammer and a fharp fword; fo it is alfo a mean of healing the wounded foul, by bringing healing promifes to it, and prefcribing remedies against fin, according to Pfal. cvii. 20. "He fent his word and healed them, and deliver. ed them from their deftruction." The facraments alfo are means of healing, as they feal the pardon of our? fins, and bring cordials to our fainting hearts. III. Afflictions are means of healing, made ufe of by our Physician. He fends croffes and loffes to make us feel how bitter fin is, to caufe us to search ours wounds, to mourn over them, and refolve against fin for the future. Sanctified rods are the purchase of Christ's blood to his patients; they are his phyfic to purge away their fins, Ifa. xxvii. 9. By this fhall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruite to take away their fin. So that believers, instead of murmuring, ought to blefs God for their afflictions, feeing they are Chrift's phyfic which he hath purchased for them at a dear rate. IV. Stupendous providences are fometimes made use of by Christ as balm for his church's diseases, when he doth doth terrible things which they looked not for, as in Ifa. Ixiv, 3. Thus he healed the fears of Ifrael, by cpening a way for them in the red fea. He healed their murmurings in the wilderness by giving them waters out of the rocks So the Lord, by ftupendous difpenfations and revolutions, hath often brought relief and healing to his diftreffed church in our land, as in the years 1560, 21638, 1688, 1714, and at other times. O let us still remember the years of the right hand of the most High. V. Faithful minifters are appointed as balm and means of healing to difeafed fouls. The great physician fends them to difpenfe found and wholesome doctrines for that end, 1 Tim. vi. 3. Tit. ii. They are his apothecaries to weigh out, mix, qualify and prepare the medicines according to his prescriptions: This the apostle points at by a minister's "rightly dividing the word of truth,” 2 Tim. ii, 15 and Chrift himself means it by the" fteward's giving his houfhold their portion of meat in due feafon, Luke xii. 42. It is happy for a difeafed church, when God gives them underItanding of the times (like the men of Iffachar) to know what Ifrael ought to do in difficult cafes. And it is as unhappy for her, when they are left to mistake the proper means, and fometimes to inflame her wounds, inftead of healing them. It is the Lord that must give ministers understanding in all things, 2 Tim. ii. 7. May they be helped always to depend upon him for it. VI. Reforming magiftrates have been made ufe of as balm for the church's diftempers, when the Lord ftirs them up to restore her liberties, redrefs her grievances and to use their authority to curb error and vice, idolatry and fuperftition, to call fynods, to confult about reformation, and excite minifters to their duty. Such balm were David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Joath, Hezekiah, Jofiah, and Nehemiah, to the church of God in their times. And fo alfo were Ahafuerus, Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes, and other heathen magiftrates, by the Lord's turning their hearts to favour his church in their dominions. And when the Lord's time of fulfilling his promises to her doth come, he can still make ftrang 11 G 2 ers ers to build up her walls, and their kings to minister to her: And kings to prove her nurfing fathers, and queens her nurfing mothers, according to Ifa lx. 10. and Ifa. xlix. 23. VII. Godly praying perfons in every station are as balm to a difeafed land, and the poorest of them may help to heal it by their prayers, even as a little child may bring phyfic, and prefent it to its fick mother. O that all the children of Zion were thus employed at present, when there is fuch need for it. The Lord encourages them to it, by promifing that the prayer of faith fhall fave the fick, James v. r5. and contribute to heal the whole land, 2 Chron. vii. 17. "If my peo ple, who are called by my name, fhall humble themfelves, and pray, and feek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their fin, and will heal their land." Wherefore, as long as God is pleased to preferve a praying remnant in the land, however deadly our diseases be, there is hope in Ifrael concerning it; feeing there is ftill good balm in the land. May poor Scotland never be without it! The FIFTH HEAD. I propofed, in the next place, to enquire into the phyfician's method of applying the balm, and performing the cure of the difeafed. I. Our bleffed Physician first makes finners fick before he makes us whole; that is, he makes finners fenfible of their disease, by convincing them of fin and mifery, and humbling them under the view of it, that fo they may prize Chrift and his healing balm; fuch are faid to be fick, Met. ix. 12. Now this preparatory fick nefs bath several things in it; as, 1. A difcovery of the dangerous nature of our dif cafe, fin, that it is the root of all the other plagues and miferies which we complain of; that it draws down the wrath and curfe of God upon us, and puts us in a ftate of damnation. 2. A folicitous care and thoughtfulness about our disease, as being of a deadly nature; which makes us reftlefs and inquifitive about it, like the Jailor, to say, What shall we do to be saved ?" What shall we do |