Ser. V. Anf. ft, By his Spirit in regeneration; he cures the mind of its blindednefs, the heart its hardness, the nature of its perverfenefs, the will of its backwardnefs, the memory of its flipperinefs the confci ence of its bentbednefs, and the affections of their diforder; all this according to his gracious promife, Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. I will take away the ftony heart, and give you an heart of flesh; and I will put my Spirit within you, and caufe you to walk in my ftatutes. It is by his Spirit within us that (e cure is carried on.

2dly, He heals his people by intimitating peace and comfort to their difquieted fouls, and affuring them that God's anger is turned away from them.

As the

grant of pardon cures the guilt of tin, fo the Spirit's intimation of it pacifies the troubled confcience, and brings healing to the bones which were broken by fin. The believer's fore ftill runs in the night until this. doth come. Now when the Phyfician is pleased to quiet his people's minds, comfort their drooping fpirits, and deliver them from the apprehenfious of God's wrath, he doth remarkably advance his healing work. in them, according to Pfal. xxx. 2, 3, &. Pfal vi. 2. Hof, xiv 4.

3aly. He carries on the cure of his people by fanctifying their natures, infufing grace and holiness into all the faculties of their fouls, and adding new measures and degrees thereof from time to time. Increase of grace and progrefs in fanctification is a continual healing of the difeafe of fin, according to Mal iv. 2. The Sun of righteoufnels fhall a ife with healing in his wings, and ye shall grow up as calves in the ftall. Healing and growing are there join'd together. The more we grow in fanctification, the more our cure doth advance. This groth indeed is often infenfible in believers, yea fometimes they will be feized with new ditempers, and be getting new wounds, fo that the work would feem to go back; yet notwithstanding, the virtue of Gilead's balin will infallibly prevail in order to the -perfecting of the foul's cure.

4thly, He carries on his healing work by cherishing weak grace in his people, and bleffing the means of grace, for frengthening and increafing it; and fo he makes good his gracious promife and character, Mat. xii. 20. A bruifed reed shall he not break, and fmoaking flax fhall be not quench. We have an instance of this in the cafe of Thomas: how tenderly did he blow on his fmoking flax, and cherith his weak faith! John xx. 27. Then faith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my fide, and be not faithlefs but believing.

5thly, He advances the cure by weakening indwelling fin and corruption, and removing those diftempers which hinder the growth of grace; he loofes their bonds, and frees them from their fetters and ftraitnings in duty, and fets them at liberty to walk before the Lord in the land of the living and even to fing, in the ways of the Lord, Pfal. cxxxviii. 5.

6thly, He caufes his North and South wind with their healing influences to blow upon their gardens and fpices, and fo puts life in their graces, end draws them forth to exercife in performing of duty. Thus he quickens faith to embrace and .reft on a crucified Jefus, and kindles love to entertain hin; and he. fharpen the foul's appetite after its food.

7thly, He carries on the cure in his people, by giving them new discoveries of Chrift and of his fulnes and fuitablenefs to their needs, to draw out their faith and love to him. This was one great defign in fending the Spirit into the world, John xvi. 14. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and fhew it unto you. Now how doth, he glorify Chrift, but by fhewing them his fulness and excellency, and making them willing to part with all things for Chrift and his righteoufnefs, and content to borrow all they want out of Chrit's fulness, and to make Chrift their all in justification, and in fanctification, and in glorification. The

more the foul makes ufe of Chrift and lives near him, it is still fo much the nearer to perfect health.

8thly, The Spirit carries on the cure in his people by caufing them to breathe after a full conformity to Chrift and his image, that their fanctification may be compleated, and they freed of all complaints of indwelling-fin and imperfect fervices. Hence they are made to cry with David, Pfal. cxix. 5. O that my ways were directed to keep thy ftatutes: And with Paul, Rom. vii. 25. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The ftronger the foul's breathings are of this kind, the nearer it is to perfect health and cure.

IV. The laft and finishing ftep of the difeafed foul's cure is at death; it is only then that the foul is made perfectly whole. Then it is that our great Physician by his Spirit pulls up all the root and feeds of the disease, and makes the foul perfect in holinefs, and meet for entering into heaven, where only a state of perfect health is enjoyed. It is in heaven only that fin and mifery, difeafes and complaints can find no place, and all pain, forrow and crying fhall pass away. There, all Chrift's recovered patients fhall have perfect and uninterrupted health thro' all the ages of eternity. May we then have grace to be always looking cut and longing for that happy state and healthful place, where the inhabitants fhall never say they are fick, being all forgiven and healed of their fin and iniquity! May our bleffed Physician fit us for that place, by beginning, carrying on, and compleating || our cure from the difeafe of fin, by all thole ways and means of healing which he hath appointed, that to his name may be afcribed glory in the highest, thro' endlefs ages. Amen.

I

SERMON

ON

VI.

JEREM. viii. 22. Is there no balm, &c.`

NOW proceed to the last thing proposed in the method I laid down, viz.

The

APPLICATION.

I. This doctrine ferves to inform us of the amaz ing riches and divine love in providing a Phylician for our difeafed fouls, and fuch a Phyfician as Jefus Chrift the eternal Son of God! One that hath infinitely more knowledge and fkill than all the angels in heaven: One that hath infinite compallions wrapt up in human bowels: One that hath both a tender heart and a tender hand, Pfalm cxlvii. 3. One that fuffered his fide to be opened, and his heart to be pierced, that his blood might become balm for our wounds. Behold an aftonishing cure! a matchlefs Phylician! Other phyficians are prodigal of their patients blood, but fparing of their own; but our glorious Physician faves his patients blood, and pours out his own: And of it he makes an incomparable balm for our wounds.

Again, we may fee what caufe we have to blefs God for h's diftinguishing goodeefs to Adam's diseased family in general, and to our difeafed land in particular. The angels that finned, had no Phylician sent to them, but we have a matchlefs One fent to us the fons of men. There are many opulent nations in the world who never heard the news of this Physician, and his healing balm; but they are proclaimed in all corners in Scotland. Thefe have the gold and riches G

of the Indies, but want the balm of Gilead, which is of infinite more value, than all they have.

II. We may improve this doctrine in an ufe of lamentation for the fick and diftreffed cafe of our land, and multitudes of fouls therein dying of their wounds, notwithstanding the gofpel offers of the glorious Physician and his excellent balm which they have in plenty. Need I to fay any thing to inftruct our diftreffed and mournful condition? Surely, if the abounding of infidelity and immorality, excefs and extravagance, error and fchifm, divifions and breaches, jealoufies and animofities, complaints and grievances; if divided minds and disjointed hearts; if reelings and ftaggerings, if altar againft altar, if doctrine againft doctrine, if worship against worship, if poft by post, and threshold by threshold, be fymptoms of a difeafed land and church that needs the balm of Gilead; then may we conclude our cafe is bad, and our need great. Ah, now it is a fickly time with the land, and multitudes are fo diftreffed, every corner is like an hofpital or infirmary, and few of them are cured. How many are languishing and dying around us, of one difeafe or another, either of the plague of unbelief, the ftone of the heart, the giddinefs of the head, the gangrene of error, the fallen fickness of apoftacy, the palfy of unfteadiness, the lethargy of fecurity, the tympany of pride, the frenzy of paffion, the cancer of envy, the leprofy of vice, the dropfy of drunkennefs, the fever of luft, the running ulcers of outbreakings, inward decays, confumption of fpiritual ftrength, or fome other fpiritual diftemper? Ah, our difeafes are past reckoning. What numbers about us are feized with feeblenefs of knees and weakness of hands, fo that they can neither bow down the one, nor lift up the other in prayer, to their Maker, and yet never are fenfible of their mifery, nor enquire for the balm of Gilead, or the Physician there!