Encouragement for God's Afflicted One's
"They
that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick"
-MATTHEW
9:12 [KJV]
A physician is useless without a case; and the deeper the case, the wiser and better physician we need. Thus a guilty conscience is a case for atoning blood, a wounded spirit for healing balm, a filthy garment for a justifying robe, a drowning wretch for an Almighty hand, a criminal on the gallows for a full pardon, an incurable disease for a heavenly physician, and a sinner sinking into hell for a Saviour stooping down from heaven.
A physician is useless without a case; and the deeper the case, the wiser and better physician we need. Thus a guilty conscience is a case for atoning blood, a wounded spirit for healing balm, a filthy garment for a justifying robe, a drowning wretch for an Almighty hand, a criminal on the gallows for a full pardon, an incurable disease for a heavenly physician, and a sinner sinking into hell for a Saviour stooping down from heaven.
A
man with a real case must have a real salvation. He is no longer to
be cheated, deluded, and tricked with pretences, as a nervous patient
is sometimes cured with bread pills; but he must have a real remedy
as having a real disease. Christ in the Bible, Christ sitting as an
unknown Saviour in the heavens, Christ afar off, unmanifested and
unrevealed, is no Christ to him. "Near, near; let Him
come near; in my heart, in my soul, revealed in me, manifested unto
me, formed within me-this, this is the Christ I want. O for one drop
of His atoning blood, one smile of His
blessed countenance, one testimony of His love, one
gleam of His justifying righteousness!"
And
thus when this divine Redeemer appears in His garments stained with
blood, the sinking soul hails His approach, the fowls of the
mountains take flight, the beasts of the earth slink off to their
dens, the dreary stump pushes forth its shoots, and the voice sounds
forth from the inmost depths of the soul, "Lo,
this is our God; we have waited
for Him,
and He
will save us. This is the LORD,
we have waited for Him;
we will be glad and rejoice in His
salvation" [ISAIAH
25:9].
-Gospel
report by preacher J.C. Philpot (1802-1869 A.D.)
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