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SERMON
III.
ISASAH
lvii.
18. I
have seen
his ways,
and
will
heal him.
I
NOW
proceed
to
the
fourth
thing proposed, and
that
is,
to
shew
what
is
implied
in
this word healing.
Sin is
supposed
to be
a distemper
of
the
soul,
and recovery
from
it
is
called healing. And thus you
have
it
very
often represented in
the,
word
of
God,
Isa.
i.
5, &e.
"
A
sinful nation, a people
laden
with iniquity, a seed
of
evil
doers, they have forsaken
their God,
they
are
gone
away
backward. Why
should
ye
be
stricken any
more? Ye
will
revolt more and more ;" and their cha-
racter
is,
"
the
whole head
is
sick,
and
the
whole
heart
faint,
from
the
sole
of
the
foot even
unto
the head there
is
no
soundness
in it,
but
wounds, and bruises,
and
pu-
trifying
sores,
&c.
Man
was
at
first
created
in
a
sound
and
healthy constitution
of
body
and spirit.
The
animal
nature
performed
all its
operations
successfully,
the
spi-
rit
maintained
all its
happily tog,
butsinen-
tered
into human
nature
and
spoiled the
constitution
afthe
flesh
and spirit.
There
is
an universal contest amongst
the
faculties
of
man, by
nature;
yet
God
has
provided
a mighty
healer
for
it,
the
great
Physician
came down from heaven
to
earth
to take
care
of
them
that
were sick,
and
would
apply
themselves to
him.
And
he
represents himself
in
his
own
preaching under
this
character;
by
his
spirit and
his
blood he
has healed ten thousands already, and still
continues
to heal
;
but
amongst
all these
patients
there
are
some
that
relapse, they
follow
the
creaturê after
they
have
given
up
themselves
unto
the
Lord
;
then,
for the
cure
of
their
lusts, he
takes up
the incision
knife,
and,
when healing medicines
will
not
do, he
takes
up
his
rod
;
he
uses
cutting
and burning
;
if
that
will
not
do,
he
is
wroth and hides
his
face
from
them
:
but if
they
still go
on
perversely,
then
sovereign
grace and
love
takes
the
l