Jeremiah chapter 8. Start reading in verse 18. Jeremiah 8 and verse 18. Written to the prophet Jeremiah,
and Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet, and we'll see
why when we just get into some of these verses. his concern
for his nation, his concern for his people. He says in verse
18, when I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint
in me. Behold, the voice of the cry
of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in
a far country is not the Lord in Zion, is not her king in her. Why have they provoked me to
anger? with their graven images and
with strange vanities. The harvest is past, the summer
is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter
of my people am I hurt. I am black. Astonishment hath
taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of
the daughter of my people recovered? This chapter, by the weeping
prophet Jeremiah, he's lamenting or laments the waywardness and
the causal sins that Jerusalem is now reaping and therefore
God's displeasure with them. Surely what Moses stated in Numbers
chapter 32 applies to this text as well as to this age right
here in this town. Our sin will find us out. Sin is ever a problem. Sin must
be found out, must be revealed to the sinner before he'll cry
for mercy. Then in this we have in this
verse, verse 20, the harvest is past, the summer's ended and
we are not saved. This statement is set as I see
it as a backdrop for verse 22 and the first phrase, first two
phrases, is there no balm in Gilead? And is there no physician
there? Now Gilead was a place where,
I guess the type of trees, they produce a lot of resin and they
use this resin as a balm, as a healing balm. That's what he's
talking about. And we know our Lord Jesus Christ
is the balm in Gilead. And we know that our Lord Jesus
Christ is the great physician. The question is, because the
harvest has passed, the summer has ended, and we are not saved
because of our sins, have found us out, is there no Bauman Gilead? Is
there no physician there? That's what I want to set up
this morning. In this truth of sin against
us, and we all have the blame, we're all at fault, the charges brought against us,
we, sinners, against this great and grand background of one in
whom there is balm, which means there is healing, and there is
a remedy, that means a physician. You don't go to a physician unless
you need to, unless you go to WebMD and you read, and then
it's, you can't quite get Clarification and I'm not saying that the you
know physicians are to be and all whatever I'm saying that
a lot of times, you know, you go to them We go to them as as
needed and they're there for us as needed but above all that
first foremost preeminently Christ Jesus is balm is a healing factor
in Gilead and he is a Is there no physician there? Yes. Yes,
there is. A similar reference to what's
going on in this chapter could be found, I'll read it to you,
in Isaiah 59 verses 1 and 2. Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened, that it cannot save, neither is His ear heavy, that
cannot hear. But your sins have separated
between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from
you that he will not hear. Because he doesn't hear doesn't
mean that he can't save. It doesn't mean that he's not able to save.
But there's this thing of sin. Donny Bell preached a message
20 years ago out of Hebrews. Sin is a hard thing to put away.
Sin is a hard thing to put away. The grace of God plainly stated,
and our awful sins, our awful transgressions, our awful iniquities,
are shown as they are in this passage. But I want us to look
this morning, not so much at our sins, because they're ever
before us, but I want us to look at this balm, and I want to look
at this physician today, and incidentally, for all here this
morning, and all who are listening, This healing balm and this great
physician are the sinner's only hope, only salvation, and only
to be found in him is true forgiveness had. His true forgiveness had. We could be here this morning.
We could have listened to many messages. We could have been
a church member, a proper, etc. But it still could be said of
us, the harvest has passed, the summer has ended, and we are
not saved. We may be hanging on to something
religious before. We may be hanging on to something
our parents said. We may be hanging on something
that we read. A difference that we may be hanging
on to something other than Christ. I want us to look this morning
at the Balm and Gilead and that there's a physician. First point,
there is not a wounded soul that there is not also Balm and Gilead
or that the great physician cannot administer his sovereign grace
upon. Christ is, now we're gonna look
at several scriptures, but not every scripture that I've got
written down, but I want us to look at several scriptures, because
if I mess up and if I don't say something right, if I read the
word, it's the word, it's not me. There is not a wounded soul,
I repeat, that there is not balm in Gilead, because Christ is,
a remedy for every evil. Christ is a remedy for every
evil. Turn to Songs of Solomon chapter
1. Song of Solomon chapter 1. Christ
is a remedy for every evil. Songs of Solomon chapter 1 and
verse 3 and 4. Because of the saver of thy good
ointments, thy name, the name that every knee will bow, every
person will confess, the name of Christ, is as ointment poured
forth. Therefore, do the virgins love
thee. Draw me. We will run after you. The king hath brought me into
his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
him. We will remember thy love more
than wine. The upright love thee. There's a remedy for every evil
found in this balm of Gilead. There is an antidote for every
sorrow. You don't have to turn there,
but John 14, let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in me,
believe in the Father. There's an antidote for every
sorrow. 2nd Corinthians chapter 1. Turn
there if you would please. 2nd Corinthians chapter 1. There
Christ is a comfort or cordial for every fainting heart. He is a comfort or cordial for
every fainting heart. 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 and
verse 3 and 4. That's first Corinthians. Let
me get to second Corinthians. Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God
of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that
we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the
comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. Now that's
a mouthful, but that's a good mouthful. That's a good mouthful. Not only is Christ a remedy for
every evil, an antidote for every sorrow, a comfort or cordial
for every fainting heart, He is a hand of love to wipe away
every tearing eye. Every tearing eye. Revelations
chapter 21, you don't have to turn here. Revelations chapter
21 and verse 4, and God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are
passed away. He'll wipe away all tears. He
is an arm of power. Protect he is an arm of power
to protect and we could look and we won't turn there in Proverbs
chapter 18 the Lord is a strong tower and those Believers run
into it and are safe running in our safe He is Christ is a
heart of tenderness to sympathize with every trial Hebrews 4 verse
15 Christ has an immutable promise to encourage and Every believer,
Malachi 3.6, I am the Lord, I change not. I change not. If I've comforted you before,
I will comfort you again. And this last one, turn to Isaiah
62. Isaiah 62. And Christ is an unfading
crown of glory to place upon our heads in heaven. an unfading
crown of glory. He is that balm in Gilead and
he is that physician. And there are so many more of
these that I could reference and we could look at the scriptures.
And he is an unfading crown of glory to place upon our heads
in heaven. Isaiah 62 and verse three, thou
shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a
royal diadem in the hand of thy God. We are that because Christ
is that. He is, and he must have, as in
all passages of scripture, he must have the preeminence. Secondly,
and as this balm and as this physician, Christ not only is
all these things, a remedy for evil, an antidote, et cetera,
et cetera, but Christ supplies strength, in our hour of weakness. He supplies not only these things
to us, but He supplies these many benefits that David talks
about in the Psalms. He is a strength in the hour
of weakness. Philippians 4 verse 13. He is courage in the hour
of danger. Deuteronomy chapter 3. Deuteronomy
chapter 3. And verse 22, you shall not fear
man, for the Lord your God, he shall fight for you. He shall
fight for you. So not only is he a strength
in the hour of weakness, and we saw, you can look in Philippians,
but he's courage in the hour of danger. He's faith in the
hour of darkness. I could go to Hebrews 11, that
great chapter of faith, and they were getting wiped out, sawn
asunder, burnt, all these different things. Yet they were persuaded
that he was able to keep them. Even though they had not seen
the fulfillment of the promises, they by faith, given by God,
they hold as though it was already done. It's already done. Christ
not only supplies the strength, courage, and faith, but he supplies
comfort in the hour of sorrow or despondency or despair. Isaiah, back to Isaiah 66. Isaiah
66 and verse 13. He provides comfort in the hour
of our sorrow, or despondency, or despair. Isaiah 66, 13. As one whom his mother comforts,
so will I, says God, comfort you, and you shall be comforted
in Jerusalem. In Christ, comforted in the church. That's one of the responsibilities
I've heard years and years ago, Don Fortner and Henry and all
these guys. instead of berating the people. And he says, we ought
to comfort you, comfort you, my people. And I can comfort
the people of God with the word of God. If you're not, if you're
not a believer, I pray that you would be, that you would get
this comfort. Otherwise, you just, you don't think about these
things. But we need to think about that
there is balm. When you need balm, when you, when the Lord
shows you what you are and what I am, and our insufficiencies,
and our total inabilities to come to him that we may have
life. But when he shows us that, we'll cry out, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. Be propitious is what that is,
to me, the sinner. And we'll find a Bauman Gilead
and we'll find a physician that can heal. Lastly, Christ not
only supplies our strength, our courage, our faith, our comfort,
but he supplies us victory in the hour of death. First Corinthians
15, the whole chapter is about the resurrection of Christ. And
that's what he does. If he rose, we shall rise in
him. I'll just read you this passage.
But thanks be unto God, which gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast. This is about what Bruce read.
Because of what Christ has done, because of the unspeakable mercy
and balm and gilly, the unspeakable abilities of our physician. Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord. And I tell myself this when I
look out and I see so few folks, it's okay. We've got a brother
in Florida who's got far less and is meeting in not such a
place as this. So let us get our eyes off ourselves.
Poor, oh, poor preacher, poor pastor, poor people. No. Why? Because our physicians touched
us. The balm has been applied. And
we are saved. Thirdly, this comfort and healing
and tender care as a physician, Christ, it's interesting that
these qualities and characteristics of our Lord, they are independent.
of all forces around them. These are of benefit regardless
of time, circumstance, or situations. Well, I've got a situation that,
no, the Lord's still a balm in Gilead. The Lord's still a great
physician. Well, you don't know me, Pastor. I've struggled with,
no, I don't. Maybe I don't have those same
struggles. Maybe I haven't walked in the shoes that you've walked
in, but I know there is balm in Gilead, and there is a great
physician. Go to him. Go to him. Don't talk. I've never
understood this walking aisle thing. I never have understood
it. You got a sinner walking up to meet another sinner. And
I've never understood the Catholicism stuff. They're talking to a man
who cannot forgive sins, cannot absolve them. He's a sinner just
like you and me. So, but our physician, our great
physician, he's independent. He acts solitary as one writer
wrote. whether he is in prosperity or
adversity, whether in joy or sorrow, in health or sickness,
life or death, he's successful. He's still, Baldwin Gilead, he's
still a successful physician. And I ask you this, what are
this world's helps and comforts compared to his? Why do we go
to the world so quickly when we know the world is not of God? What are the world's comforts?
What are the world's antidotes? What are the world's remedies
like our Lord's? They're not to be compared. When
tested, the world's remedies, they often fail, whereas Christ
knows nothing of failure or defeat. This balm in Gilead does actually
heal, and this physician is skilled to where He can cure any disease.
This world's consolations give way, and they are like, He says
in 2 Kings, they're like broken reeds or shattered dreams. You
don't have to turn there, but in 2 Kings chapter 18, this is
a meaning, what He's applying to here. Now behold, thou trustest upon
the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt. on which, if
a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, unto all that trust in him." Just replace the
king of Egypt with government, anything. This country, its leaders,
you and I, if somebody's leaning on us, we fail, we'll often fail. But not only does he have the
ability to heal, But he has the power. He's sovereign. He's supreme
over all things. There's no one like our beloved. There's no one that compares
to him. He saves. He heals. He mends. And he causes his dear people
to seek his face and promises if they seek him, they will find
him. So I close with this. I pray
that this would not be said of us today. The harvest has passed,
the summer has ended, and we are not saved. We're not saved. But I pray that we would see
that there is Balmain Gilead and there is an able physician
whose name is Christ and Christ alone. Look to him. Is there
Balmain Gilead? Yes. Is there no physician there? Yes. Yes, there is. And we've heard of him. I pray
that the Lord would enable us by the Holy Spirit to convict,
convince and trust in him and follow him. Bruce, would you
close this, please?