March 25

They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. - Luke 5:31.

OF what importance is it, therefore, that we should be fully sensible of the condition we are in! Unless we are conscious that we are suffering from a Spiritual disease ourselves, and are thereby in danger of perishing, we shall never be induced to seek of the Physician of souls a divine and everlasting cure. For this purpose let us consider, First, The complaint itself; and there is nothing so dreadful; no disorder of the body will bear any comparison with it. It vitiates our noblest parts; it destroys the beauty, strength, freedom, pleasure, and the activity and usefulness of the soul; and it exposes not only to a temporal, but to an eternal death.

Secondly, Let us consider the Physician to whom we are directed to apply. He has everything to recommend him. Job rejected his friends under the notion that they were physicians of no value. But the Lord Jesus is the very reverse of all this. He is infinitely able; no difficulty is too great for his skill; he never failed in any case yet which he undertook since the creation of the world. And he is equally willing. He performs all his cures “without money and without price.” He is always accessible, and is always condescending and affable, and ready to attend us. He has said, to encourage all applicants, “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.”

Thirdly, Let us consider that the time of cure is limited, that it is short, and that it is very uncertain. It is only now that he addresses the question, “Wilt thou be made whole?” While there is life there is hope, physically and morally; but still there are favourable opportunities which may pass and never return. There are impressions that may be worn off, and there are convictions that may be starved for want of being cherished and sustained; and we know that at death all the opportunities of salvation are over.

Lastly, Let us remember, that neglecting to make application to this only Physician of souls, and rejecting the gracious remedy provided, will greatly aggravate the misery by which it will be succeeded.