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Samaria "all that ever she did ;" and as he proved that he knows the evil thoughts of the hearts of his enemies; but it also means that he has such a kind and gracious knowledge of them, that, in the character of their Good Shepherd he suffers them to "lack nothing; feeds them in the green pastures of his word, restores and refreshes their souls;" and takes that affectionate care of them which we find he does; attends to and cherishes them in such a peculiar and special manner, that they shall never perish, nor shall the infernal destroyer himself be able successfully to assault them: so that they may joyfully exclaim with the Apostle St. Paul, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" for Christ their Lord hath "given to them eternal life." What no eye hath seen, nor ear heard, and what hath never entered into the heart of man to conceive, hath God prepared for them that love him."-It is true that the children of God in this world have much to endure in temporal respects from the ungodly, and in spiritual respects from their adversary the devil; many crosses, trials, troubles, and afflictions, abide them. Through much tribulation must they enter into the kingdom of God. But the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in them. "Our light affliction," says the apostle, " which is but for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Are Christians such a blessed and happy people, that Christ "knows them" in that way of grace which we have been describing?

..Who then would not wish to find himself a real Christian, one of the sheep of that Good Shepherd Jesus Christ? Who would not wish to abide under his faithful and pastoral care for ever? I doubt not we all, at once, perceive that this must be happiness indeed. Who then is there amongst us that can now comfort himself with the thought of possessing it? We answer, all may do so, who walk worthily of the name of Him, whose sheep they desire to be; who follow him in faith, love, hope, and other virtues. Let only the same mind be in us which was also in him, and suffer not the heat of trial and temptation to surprise you, because Christ himself hath tasted death, and that for us. Let us beware that we never depart from our Good Shepherd into ways which are not good; by following our own will instead of his. As Christ himself is represented in Isaiah liii. 7, "as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb;" so let our strength be also in quietness and confidence; and let us "run with patience the race that is set before us." O how many depart from this pattern and example

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of Christ! How many rather resemble the fox in cunning, the swine in low and grovelling indulgence of drinking and eating, the goat in lasciviousness, the dog in envy, &c. than they resemble the patient lambs and sheep of Christ's flock, by obediently following their Good Shepherd! How many live merely to fulfil the desires of the flesh and of the mind; how many follow the multitude to do evil, instead of following Christ! Alas! "they have their reward!" But, beloved, let us not run with them into the same foolish and perilous indulgences, how much soever they may be offended at us, and incensed against us; for to them we are not to look, either for thanks or for reward. Christ is our Lord and Shepherd; him let us follow, and we shall lack nothing. Has he not declared to us, that he knows his sheep? Happy, then, are they whom he thus knows. He knows their affliction and their poverty; he knows what they need, and he careth for them. He will acknowledge them as his own, and as the blessed children of his Father, in the last day; but he will say to the goats on his left hand, "Verily, I know you not :depart from me, ye cursed," &c. The righteous will then be for ever with him their Lord, and him whose voice they have heretofore heard "in faith, not in sight," and have followed it, him shall they thenceforth see as he is, face to face. For this comfort of hope, be praise, honour, and thanksgiving, to the great and faithful chief Shepherd! May he lead us by his Spirit and Word, that we may walk worthily of him unto all pleasing! Amen!

2. Sermon on the Gospel for the nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. Matt. ix. 1-8.*

It is most comfortable and delightful to read in Moses those words of the supreme LOVER OF OUR LIFE, "I am the Lord that healeth thee." (Exod. xv. 26.) Though he created man in a capacity to need no physician, for then were his soul and body in their most beautiful perfection, and in the finest harmony with each other, yet, alas! by the fall, Adam degraded himself and all his posterity into a very different condition; for every human soul now naturally bears the disgraceful image of sin, instead of the pure and undefiled likeness of God; and Isaiah (i. 5, 6,) truly describes our awful condition, when he says, "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and

* Preached at Maulbronn, 10th of Oct. 1706, shortly after his severe illness; in his twentieth year.

bruises, and putrefying sores; which have not been bound up, neither have been closed, nor mollified with ointment." The body, likewise, is become subject to the mournful change of returning to the dust whence it was taken, and of being previously afflicted with many a sickness and woe, the forerunners of death. But thanks be to God, who as the true Physician, has vouchsafed us ample remedies against this double misery. For the recovery of the soul he has provided the precious blood of atonement, through those sufferings of his dear Son, which were predicted by Isaiah, who said, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." And our bodies themselves are, by our blessed Redeemer, already so benefited as to be either totally exempt from much hardship and suffering; or else such sufferings are, in the case of pious persons, changed from punishment into fatherly correction. We have satisfactory evidence, in the gospel before us, that our Saviour is the true physician, and the master of healing. For here is a poor man brought to him for recovery from sickness, and, behold, he heals him in a manner worthy of himself, and altogether divine. He recovered him both in body and soul; and he wrought this recovery in the presence of his enemies, notwithstanding all their rancorous opposition. Let us, therefore, set this miracle before us on the present occasion; and consider the cure of this paralytic— First, As begun in the soul;

Secondly, As vindicated from the unjust conceptions of the scribes; and

Thirdly, As gloriously completed by the gift of bodily health: And O that my beloved hearers may singly and privately lay to heart the divine truth which is here suggested to us; and that God may write it effectually in all our hearts, by the power of his good Spirit! Amen.

"Behold,

I. The cure of this paralytic was begun in his soul. they brought unto him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed." The circumstances show that the chief object of these persons was to get their long-afflicted patient healed by Christ, who had now become greatly renowned for his words and works. But he begins the work of healing in a way very different from what they expected; for, first of all, he heals the soul of the sufferer, and defers the cure of his body for awhile, saying, "Son, be of

this

good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee!" Sin being the insidious cause of all sicknesses and of every human woe, what wonder was it that Christ should first remove this hidden root of the malady? The man, as thus assured of the forgiveness of his sins, could now be of good comfort indeed! The wall of spiritual separation between himself and God, who is the fountain of all comfort, was now removed! We also, if "justified by faith, have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. v. 1.) Yes, in way we all may become assured that we are the holy children of God. Observe, here, that Jesus addresses the sick man himself by the name of " Son!" Moreover, the cure is wrought through the faith of those who brought him to Jesus; for it is expressly said, "When Jesus saw their faith." Not as though Christ needed to see this work of theirs in order to know that they had faith; for he saw as easily into their hearts as into the hearts of the evil-thinking scribes. But this faith of theirs was so well pleasing to him, that he was willing, at once, to give the poor sufferer the benefit of it. It is true, that in our spiritual concerns, and especially in the matter of justification before God, none can have the special benefit of the faith of others; for "the just shall live by HIS faith."* But in temporal matters this may easily be done. A sick person may be divinely recovered and preserved through the faith which is exercised by his relatives and friends: he may be given to their believing prayers.

Our Saviour's conduct here further shows that spiritual welfare should always be our first concern; for as the soul is so deplorably infected by sin, our chief business must be to obtain deliverance from this worst of evils, even the true deliverance which is only by Christ, our great Physician. But as they that are whole feel not their need of him, we must take care to know and become sensible of the great wretchedness to which sin has reduced us; not only our original and native corruption, but our many actual sins, committed both knowingly and in ignorance. We must acknowledge and believe that we have thus deservedly subjected ourselves to sickness and bodily pain, and rendered ourselves liable to Divine displeasure, condemnation, and future punishment. Believing this, our hearts must be moved with godly sorrow and godly fear; and be affected with holy dread of all sin. Yes, we ought to feel true contrition of spirit, and inward aversion to all iniquity; we ought to be heartily sorry, not so much at being liable to punishment, as at having offended

* Rom i. 17.

against the fatherly goodness and faithfulness of our Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Comforter. When the heart is, indeed, thus affected; when we sincerely feel and acknowledge our spiritual diseases; then is the season for applying to our good Physician. Bring, therefore, thy contrite heart and spirit, miserable and vile as thou mayst be, to Him; disclose to Him, and disclose, if circumstances require it, to a christian friend or christian minister, thy real condition; do it without reserve; complain of thy misery to the faithful Saviour; pray to Him for help; draw nigh to Him in true faith, and he will certainly accept thee; he will heal all thy diseases; he will bind up thy wounds; he will wash thy stripes; he will make thee perfectly whole and clean, through his own precious blood; he will present thee without spot before his heavenly Father. Yes, he is willing and ready to do all this; just as in the case of the paralytic, he did not want many entreaties.

This, beloved brethren, being the only safe state for our souls, should it not be our greatest care neither to rest nor to relax till we have received forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ, and have become assured of our admission into the number of the children of God, whose fellowship is with Christ? Let us not rest till our consciences have become thus cheered and comforted; till we are able, on solid ground, which must be that of the truth itself, to declare with joy, that Christ's word to us is, "Son," or "Daughter, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee." This, however, is to be obtained in no other way than by the divinely prescribed and irreversible order of repentance and faith, as we may even see from the text before us. The eyes of the Lord are upon faith; “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Heb. xi. 6.) But lest any deceive themselves by mistaking some empty dream, some vain imagination, some fleshly confidence, for true and lively faith, we must be reminded, that the faith here insisted on, is a “faith which worketh by love,” and clearly manifests its reality by "good works." The faith of this sick man's friends manifested itself thus; and so did the faith of the sick man himself, for he immediately obeyed the word of Jesus.

We have high and important reasons for that supreme care of the soul which is here recommended. Consider with me, beloved brethren, why God hath given us this present life? Is it that we may spend our few precarious years in looking carelessly about us; in toiling to obtain the enjoyments and pleasures of this world; in merely taking care of our frail bodies; or in heaping up uncertain riches, and gaining earthly possessions?

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