|
IS
THERE NO BALM IN GILEAD?
Read:
Jeremiah 8:18-22 Luke 7:11-17
The physician can see that his friend's fever and rash are
not just minor symptoms - they're part of a syndrome that
spells sure death if the disease isn't given attention.
And the physician knows exactly what to do for his friend.
With a little cooperation he could be perfectly cured in
two months.
But, if the friend keeps laughing it off,
if he refuses to take warning, what can the physician do?
The man's wife pleads with him.
"Fred, listen to your friend. You're not
well. You've lost so much weight. You're
getting weaker every day."
Get off my back, woman. I'm all right.
After Christmas we'll take a vacation down
south and get some rest and sunshine."
The man keeps getting weaker. Christmas Eve he collapses
on the living room floor and dies. At the funeral people
shake their heads.
"The man had a curable disease. His best
friend was a doctor. Why didn't he do
something for him?"
Ah, but the doctor was never given a chance.
And if there is sickness in the Body of Christ, which
the people won't admit, what can the Physician do?
My grief is beyond healing, my heart is
sick
within me.
Hark, the cry of the daughter of my people
from the length and breadth of the land:
"Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?"
"Why have they provoked me to anger with their
graven images, and with their foreign idols?"
"The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and
we are not saved."
For the wound of the daughter of my people is
my heart wounded.
I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no
physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my
people
not been restored?
When Jeremiah spoke these words, the people of Jerusalem
scoffed, "What's the matter with you, Jeremiah? We're
not sick! Jerusalem is in good shape. You're the one
who's sick!"
Jerusalem went on about its business.
- The priests in the temple prepared the
sacrifices and looked after the crowds.
- The king and his court were busy with
their social life.
- There was still plenty to buy in the market,
and money to buy it.
Granted, wars were going on all around them.
Granted, there were rumors of an approaching siege from
Nebuchadnezzar's army, but that all seemed unreal.
As the months passed, things in Jerusalem began looking
bad. Jeremiah kept calling the people to turn to God, and
the leaders of the city kept protesting that things were
fine, their troubles were only minor.
- Even when the siege was laid and no one
could come or go from the city,
- Even when food became scarce and water
was short.
- Even when people started dying,
still the leaders insisted "things will be all right
soon."
Right up until the day the Chaldean army broke through and
the king fled and was captured, and his sons were slain
before him, and his eyes were put out, and the temple was
destroyed, and the people were led away as slaves.....
right up until they couldn't deny it, people kept saying,
"Jeremiah, you're morbid."
And all this was so unnecessary. Jerusalem could have been
healed long before things really got bad. Jeremiah saw the
sickness, which anyone with eyes could see, and cried out,
"Why is this? Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no
physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter
of my people not been restored?"
Throughout the Body of Christ here, and across the city,
and doubtless in many other places, we are seeing
symptoms
which, taken by themselves, perhaps, don't seem very
dangerous.
The odd brother and sister falling away.
What's so strange about that? Brothers
and sisters have been falling away since
the beginning. After all, "Many are called
but few chosen."
Believers at each others throats. We know
that that's been going on since the earliest
days of faith.
Disciples turning lukewarm and starting to
compromise.
Lives that were made pure stumbling back
into immorality.
Laborers getting weary.
Love turning cold.
Men and women of God losing that vision.
We could go on and list many other symptoms. But the
real problem is not these things in
themselves, bad as
they are. The real problem is twofold and it's exactly
what Jeremiah came up against.
1. Nobody will admit that there's anything
seriously wrong.
2. Nobody pays attention to the Physician
who offers healing.
When we have a wounded thigh like Jacob, or a thorn in
the flesh like Paul, these things don't hinder the flow
of God's grace. God's grace is made perfect in our
weakness. But when we are sick with unbelief,
sick with fear,
sick with anger,
sick with hardness of heart,
sick with lust,
sick with covetousness, sick with hypocrisy.
When the whole Body is infected with these things and
still we go right on pretending that we're well --- then
we're in trouble.
Sure these things happened in the apostolic church. And
what did the Lord do about it? He called it to repentance.
"Remember then from what you've fallen and
repent!"
"Remember what you have received and heard,
keep that and repent. If you will not awake, I
will come like a thief and you will not know
at what hour I will come upon you."
There is a balm in Gilead. There is a Physician. And
He's standing in the midst of His church with eyes like
flames of fire and feet like burnished bronze. In His
right hand He holds seven stars. From His mouth issues
a sharp two-edged sword. And His face is like the sun,
shining in full strength.
When will His Church admit that she needs
His healing touch?
When will she turn and call upon Him for
cleansing and forgiveness?
The Church of Jesus Christ in the city of Detroit doesn't
need seminars, and clinics, and conferences, and endless
remedial meetings to bring itself to life. These things
will never do it!
And, don't be misled by the size of the crowds. Don't be
lulled to sleep by the fact that you hear people praising
God here and there.
Sure there are meetings all over town, and bible studies,
and church services...but the work isn't getting done!
The Lord of the Harvest keeps calling laborers into His
harvest...yet the harvest stands there waiting to be
reaped. Ninety percent of the energy in our fellowships
is spent taking care of ourselves....
- babysitting each other,
- sympathizing with each other,
- exhorting each other,
- gossiping about each other,
- wrestling with inner temptations and conflicts.
And with whatever strength that's left, we're trying to
proclaim the Kingdom of God. And the world looks at us
and says, "That's the Kingdom of God? Thanks, I'll take
Vic Tanny."
This city isn't feeling the impact of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, nor will it, even
if we bring in five Billy Grahams at once,
along with ten Pat Boones and eight Dave
Wilkersons.
This city won't feel the impact of the gospel
until the Body of Christ here is healed, and
cleansed, and raised from its drunken stupor,
lifted out of its preoccupation with itself,
and made to stand on its own two feet and speak
with a clear mind and a strong voice.
All it takes is for some gathering of believers, some-
where in this town, to admit that they need healing....
not just for bad backs and jumpy nerves, but for the Body
itself.
All it takes is for some congregation, somewhere, to
admit that it has not been what it was called to be and
to start weeping before the Lord for its corporate sin
and its corporate death.
As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold,
a man who had died was being carried out, the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow;
and a large crowd from the city was with her.
And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion
on her and said to her, "Do not weep."
"Do not weep" He said to her and then He raised
her son from the dead. Her weeping brought Him
near to her with life from heaven.
"Why are you weeping?" He said to Mary Magdalene,
and manifested to her the power of His resurrec-
tion.
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall
be comforted."'
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will visit His Church with
life when He sees her mourning for her dead condition.
Mourning - not criticizing.
A lot of us are highly critical of the way things are in
the Body. But a critical spirit never brings life from
God. All a critical spirit ever brings is more death.
Many of us feel that we're gifted with discernment about
the condition of the Body and we become quite upset because
nobody seems interested in our profound insights. But
while we're diagnosing and discerning and criticizing,
we're failing to do one thing:
- we're failing to admit that we are part
of the disease!
We're not the Physician....we're part of the sickness.
The Physician is standing in our midst waiting for a chance
to heal us, waiting for us to come down off our pedestals
and repent for our part in this disease.
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.
The bread you eat today is not just the Body broken for
someone else's healing - not even the Body broken for the
healing you needed before you became a believer. It's
His Body broken for the healing you need today. For the
sickness of pride and self-righteousness and unbelief you
brought with you into this room.
And the wine you drink is not just the Blood shed for
someone else's sins - not even the Blood shed for sins you
committed before you became a believer, but His Blood
shed for the sin of stubbornness and rebellion against
God's grace you brought with you today.
Jesus has so much more for us than we now have, but the
healing and the forgiveness of our
crucified Lord cannot
flow in until we admit our need of them.
May God, in His mercy, enable us to face the truth about
ourselves and help us, with broken hearts, to draw near
to the only Physician in all the world who can heal us.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole,
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.
There is a Physician standing in the midst of the children
of Zion who is able to make them strong in the strength of
God right now.
|
|
|