Doct. 2. That Jesus Christ Is a soul-phy- sician. Ministers (as was said before) are physicians, whom Christ doth in his name delegate, and send abroad into the world. He saith to the apostles, and in them to all his ministers, " Lo I am witii you to the end of the world," ISlatt. xxviii. 20. That is, I am with you to assist and bless you, and to make your ministry heiding ; but though ministers are physicians, yet but undor-j>hy- sicians. Jesus Christ is the chief jdiysician; he it is that teacheth us all our receipts, and goes forth Avith our labours, else the physic we prescribe would never work; all the mi- nisters under heaven would not do any cure without the help of this great Physician. For the amplification of this I shall show,
1. That Christ is a physician.
2. Why he is a physician.
3. That he is the oidy physician.
4. How he heals his ])aticnts.
5. That he is the best physician.
1. That Christ is a physician; it is one of his titles, Exod. xv. 2G. " I am the Lord that healeth thee." He is a physician for the body; he "anointed the blind, cleansed the le))ers, healed the sick, raised the dead," Matt. viii. 16. He it is that puts virtue in- to physic, and makes it healing ; and he is a physician for the soul, Psal. cxlvii. 3. " He
healeth the broken in heart." We are ail as
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THE SOUL'S MALADY AND CURE.
so many impotent, diseased persons; one man hath a fever, another a dead palsy, another hath a bloody issue, he is under the power of some hereditary corruption ; now Christ is a soul-physician, he healeth these diseases, therefore in scripture, the Lord Jesus, to set forth his healing virtue, is re- sembled,
(1.) By the brazen serpent, Numb. xxi. 9. Those who were stung, were cured by look- ing on the brazen serpent ; so when the soul is stung by the old serpent, it is cured by that healing under Christ's wings.
(2.) Christ is resembled by the good Sa- maritan, Luke X. 33, 34. " A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead ; but a certain Samari- tan as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in wine and oil," &c. We have wounded ourselves by sin, and the wound had been incurable, had not Christ, that good Samaritan, poured in wine and oil.
(3.) Christ as a physician is resembled by the trees of the sanctuary, Ezek. xlvii. 12. " The fruit thereof shall b^ for meat, and the leaf thereof shall be for medicine." Thus the Lord Jesus, that tree of life in paradise, hath a sanative virtue ; he heals our pride, unbelief, &c. As he feeds our graces, so he heals our corruptions.
2. Why Christ is a physician.
( L) In regard of his call ; God the Father called him to j)ractise physic, he anointed him to the work of healing, Luke iv. 18. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he liath anointed me to preach the gospel : he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted." Christ came into the world as into an hospi- tiil, to heal sin-sick souls : this, though it was a glorious work, yet Christ would not under- take it, till he was commissioned by his Fa- ther. " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, lie hath sent me." Christ was anointed and appointed to the work of a physician, this was for our imitation; we are not to meddle many matters without a call ; that is acting out of our sphere.
(2.) Jesus Christ undertook this healing
work, because of that need we were in of a physician. Christ came to be our physician, not because we deserved him, but because we needed him ; not our merit, but our misery, drew Christ from heaven ; had he not come, we must of necessity have perished, and died of our wounds ; our disease was not ordinary, it had seized on every part; it made us not only sick but dead ; and such receipts were necessary as none but Christ could give.
(3.) Christ came as a physician out of the sweetness of his nature ; he is like the good Samaritan, who had compassion on the wounded man, Luke x. 33. A physician may come to the patient only for gain ; not so much to help the patient as to help him- self: but Christ came purely out of sympathy ; there was nothing in us to tempt Christ to heal us ; for we had no desire of a physician, nor had we any thing to give our physician; as sin made us sick, so it made us poor ; so that Christ came as a physician, not out of hope to receive any thing from us, but was prompted to it out of his own goodness, Hos. xiv. 4. " I will heal their backslidings, I will love them." Love set Christ a work ; not only his Father's commission, but his own compassion moved him to his spiritual physic and cliirurgery. King David banished the blind and lame out of the city, 2 Sam. v. 8. Christ comes to the blind and lame, and cures them ; it is the sounding of his bowels that causeth the healing under his wings.