Does The Great Physician Seem Far Off?

Those times in which the great Physician walked visibly among men and healed all manner of disease are long since past, and the gates of heaven have opened and let the King of glory in. How is it with us? It seems to so many as if the great Physician were now afar off, away from this earth where we labor and suffer, and inaccessible to our burdened souls. It is not so, my brethren, it is not so. He is here. He has not forsaken His people. He will not leave us. He is here now, ready to heal. For He has told us, “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.” John 14:18. Before He ascended into heaven He said to His disciples:

“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matt. 28:18-20.

The healing work of the great Physician is still going on. The messengers whom He sends out to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, do the work in His name and with means that He has appointed and that carry His power. Where these are He is; where these are applied the healing remedy of the great Physician is applied. Therefore I say, He is here now, and ready to heal the souls of all that come to Him.

Many Will Not Believe And Will Not Come

But when He calls so many will not believe and will not come. That is the great trouble. The complaint was made in the olden time:

“This people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Matt. 13:15.

Is it not amazing, that people should be dying of a terrible disease, and when the great Physician comes to heal them, they reject Him! But are not such sad things repeated in our days and among us also? Has not our Lord reason to say of some of you, “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life?” John 5:40. The ruler worshiped the great Physician and trusted in His healing power; the timid woman had such confidence in Him that she believed if she might but touch His garment she would be healed. That is what He asks of us. “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” That faith He Himself works in the soul; why will ye resist the work of His Spirit and choose to die in your sins, Oh ye that have not believed in Jesus and confessed His name? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and it shall be to thee according to thy faith. Thou shalt be of good comfort, because the curse is removed and the mercy of God is assured through the blood of the Lamb. And ye that have believed, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” Matt. 13:16. Only continue in the Word, and grow in grace and in knowledge, that ye may through the grace of the great Physician be steadfast unto death, when you shall be released from every pain and, perfectly healed, enter into the joys of your Lord. Amen.

From: Long, Simon Peter. The Eternal Epistle: Sermons on the Epistles for the Church Year. Columbus, Ohio: F. J. Heer. 1908. Available in Free Ebook and in Paperback