From Clocker Valley in County Tyrone we present Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you join us as Gospel Minister the Reverend Peter McIntyre is here to let the Bible speak and preach Christ in all his fullness. Today I want to share with you some thoughts about a verse of scripture that's found in Jeremiah chapter 8 and the verse 22. It's a question, is there no Bam and Gilead? Is there no physician there? Jeremiah was a prophet who preached to a nation who had sinned and rebelled against God. Because of their idolatry, because they had not listened to the word of God, they were staring national disaster straight in the face. And as Jeremiah spoke to these people about their sin, he mourned over them and he wept and he cried out, is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Gilead was famous for its healing balms. and these healing balms which were obtained from certain types of trees could heal even the bite of certain serpents. But there was one thing that these healing balms could not do, the very best of ointments and medicine. They could do nothing for the sin-sick soul. For the soul that had rebelled against God, for the soul that was being destroyed because of its sin, there was no earthly remedy. This is a most solemn text of Scripture. It teaches us that if we ignore God's salvation, if we ignore Jesus Christ, there is absolutely no hope for us. It reminds me of Hebrews 2, verse 3, where the Apostle Paul asks another question. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? This is a very similar text. If God is ignored, Then there is no healing, there is no hope, there is no cure, there is no physician. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Sin is still a problem as it was in Jeremiah's day. It is a problem which is endemic in every society. It is a problem that plagues every individual and it is a problem we need addressed if we are to be prepared for eternity. And yes, we're all passing through this world and we're going out to eternity and we must be prepared to meet God. And it is only God's solution which provides the answer. And that solution is found in Christ who died for us. Turn away from Christ as your saviour. And there is no hope. There is no balm in Gilead. There is no physician there. There's nothing that a counsellor can do for you. There's nothing that a doctor can do for you. There's nothing that philosophy can do for you. There's nothing that religion can do for you. There's nothing you can do for yourself and there is nothing anyone else can perform for you. If you turn away from Christ, there is no hope. Is there no Bam and Gilead? Is there no physician there? First of all, let's think about this terrible sickness. Sin is a sickness. It's a horrible sickness. It's the greatest of all diseases. It's genetic. David said in Psalm 51 verse 5, I was shapen in iniquity and sinned did my mother conceive me. The one thing we inherit from our parents and beyond that from our first parents is sin. We cannot help the fact that we're sinners. It's what we are. Sin is universal. Romans 3 verse 23. For all have sinned to come short of the glory of God. The person who says that he or she is not a sinner is a liar living in a delusion. It is a sickness of the soul, this is what makes it so problematic. Other sicknesses affect the body, sicknesses affect the external body, they can affect the internal organs, they can affect the mind, but this is a sickness of the soul. Because in 1 Kings 8, verse 38, we read about the plague of our own hearts. The plague of the heart. And there are symptoms for this disease. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 5 says this, Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not been closed, now they are bound up, now they are mollified with ointment. Isaiah, in talking about the sinfulness of Israel and his generation, said to the people, just look at yourselves. You're just like a body that's full of terrible sores and ulcers, running sores, a body that's plagued with gangrene, a body that has all the symptoms, that is dying. Just look at the symptoms of sin today. Murder. Abuse. The abuse of little children. Robbery. Thieving. Extortion. Scams. Adultery. Bad language. Filthy words. Pornography. Moral books. Movies. Disobedience to parents. The list goes on and on and on. You can see it in your own life, can you not? The plague of your heart being made manifest in your life. It's contagious. We receive this sin from our parents but we pass this sin on to our children and we influence each other by our words and by our deeds. Could it be that your sin's actually influencing others, perhaps moulding young lives to do entirely the wrong thing? And they look at you and they think, that's the life I want. And is your life the life that you want your children to have? Is contagious? Is fatal? Sin is fatal? For the wages of sin is death, Paul said. The wages of sin is death. And that's not just dying. in this world. It's not just been put in a coffin. It's eternal death. It's hell. It's the judgment of God forever. This is what we're talking about. It's a terrible sickness. It's a serious sickness. There's no natural remedy. It's the second thing I want you to think about. There's no natural remedy for this sickness of sin. Not even the most famous BAM and all of Israel could cure a people who were suffering from their sin. Maybe you've been trying remedies for sin. There is no cure for this disease of the soul with which you have been born. Some people try the remedy of baptism. They think that because they're baptised that that's good enough. It's never good enough. Baptism never made anyone a Christian. It's a lie if you believe such a thing. Some people try confirmation. Blessing from a bishop can never heal the plague of the heart. It can't be done. Externally it might bring you into a relationship with the church but it doesn't bring you into a relationship with Christ. Religious habits. There are some people who perform religious habits. Religious habits are very good. Reading your Bible, praying, attending church, taking communion, But none of these things can cure the filthy stain called sin. They might make you religious, but you just become a religious sinner. A Christian upbringing, that's a very good thing. It's a great privilege to have parents who teach you the gospel. But if anything, this kind of privilege can make you the worst kind of sinner. How so? Because if you turn away from this privilege, then you turn away from the greatest privilege that anyone can have to be brought up in the Gospel. And it will cause you to be standing before God one day answering for the fact that you refused that which you knew to be right. And that's a solemn and a serious thing. With great privileges come great accountability. It intensifies the disease, you know, because you had the opportunities. Education. Education makes you an educated sinner, but it doesn't make you a Christian. Some of the most evil people in the history of the world had great knowledge, great education, yet they used all of that to do awful things. Morality. Oh it's good to have a good life. You know there's a word I hate for born again Christians. It's the word good living. That person's good living. A Christian's not a good living person. Yes it is true a Christian should have good works. I don't deny that. But there are many many good living people out there. Respectable, honourable, decent, moral, faithful to their husband, faithful to their wife, good fathers, good mothers. keen sense of right and wrong, do the right thing, pay their taxes, pay all their bills. There's people like that out there and they're not Christians because morality doesn't make you a child of God. The old disease of the soul remains inside. And there are people who think that merely a decision makes them a Christian. A decision heals wound of the soul. There's some people who made a decision and lifted their hand up in a meeting or they've got down their knees and said a wee prayer but their lives have never been changed. They just go on the way they have been and then when someone says are you saved? Oh yes I am saved but where is the life? Where is the interest in God? Where is the hatred of sin? Never depend on a decision. All of these things belong to the realm of what the scripture calls works. The Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith. Not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. It's not of works. Works will do nothing. Works are like the balm of Gilead. They do not heal the sin sick soul. Thirdly, let's think about the good physician. If you cannot look to this world, if you cannot look to yourself, if you cannot look to the church, who can you look to? Where do you look in order to be healed of this plague of sin? In Matthew chapter 10 we read about the Lord Jesus and he's sitting eating with publicans and sinners. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to the disciples, why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? Pharisees couldn't understand this. Why does Jesus mix with the dregs of society? And Jesus simply said in Mark chapter nine and the verse 12, these that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I didn't come to heal people that are whole, that are healthy. I came to heal the sick. I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. This is what Jesus came to do, to call sinners. He's interested in those who are sick and those who know they are sick. If you switch off this radio or turn away from this message or silence the podcast because you say I'm good enough, Jesus is not interested in you because you're saying I'm healthy. If you think you're healthy, you don't go to the doctor. You go to the doctor when you know you're sick and you need help. You sense the sickness of your sin. You sense the emptiness of your heart. You sense what your sin is doing to you, the darkness of it, the hopelessness of it, the failure of your life, a life that has been lived without God. You sense this today. Are you sick of sin? I pray that you are. Then go to Christ. He alone can heal you. of this dreadful plague. How can Christ heal you? He can heal you from the guilt of sin. He took the guilt for you. That's what the cross was all about. The Son of God taking our guilt. He felt that dreadful plague. He bore its awful consequences. He shed his blood to give us peace with God. What can take away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. He can heal you from the plague. He can heal you from the pollution. He can make your life totally different. He can heal you from the presence of sin because he gives you hope that one day you'll be free from sin forever in his presence with a new body that cannot sin. Sin is the problem with the world. Sin is the problem with society. Sin is the problem with the family. Sin is the problem with our lives. Will you not go to Jesus today for healing? for he is the good physician. I thank you so much for listening. you've been listening to Let the Bible Speak. If we can be of any further spiritual help, or if you would like to receive some free gospel literature, we invite you to write to us. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, Rev. Peter McIntyre, 13 Willand Crescent, 5 Mile Town, County Tyrone, BT75OQL. That's Let the Bible Speak, Rev. Peter McIntyre, Thirteen, Willand, Crescent, Five Mile Town, County Tyrone, BT75, OQL. You may hear Mr. McIntyre preach each Lord's Day here in Clocker Valley Free Presbyterian Church at 11.30am and 7pm. For further information you may phone us at 028 8952 1611. 028 8952 1611. We assure you of a very warm welcome at all the services and look forward to having you visit with us. Thank you for listening today, may the Lord richly bless you, and don't forget to tune in on this same station at the same time next week, when once again we turn to the scriptures and let the Bible speak.