fever, and delirium, and restlessness, just like a madman. I am wretched. There is no soundness in me. There is a rottenness in my bones. Without relief I must die.

Cannot I be saved? Must I linger on a while and then perish? Blessed be God, I need not die. There is a Physician. His name is Jesus Christ. He is able. He is willing. He is full of grace and truth. He is just such a friend as I need. Let us

see.

He is very skilful. He never mistakes symptoms. He knows the malignancy of diseases. Flattering appearances never deceive him. He knows the difference between depression of spirits and a penitent heart; between natural frankness and godly sincerity; between the humility of Ahab and that of Paul ; between the repentance of Judas and that of Peter. His skill is divine, because He is divine. He knows my case perfectly, because he knows all things perfectly. My case is not hidden from him in any particular.

He knows the remedies I need. He knows I cannot be sound without his blood and righteousness, his word and Spirit, his grace and power. If He will but undertake my case, I am sure it will be treated aright. I shall never perish, if I make Him my Physician.

He has been chosen of God; appointed and ordained to this very work. Whatever He has done has been by the choice and commandment of his Father. He was approved of God in all he did and in all he suffered. He had greater witness than that of John, for there came a voice from the excellent glory, saying: "This is my beloved Son; hear ye Him;' and the works which the Father gave Him to finish,

the same did bear witness of Him. He was no impostor, or vain pretender. The seal of God was on His commission.

The great Physician is also very tender and loving. He was once hit by the archers himself. One object of his incarnation was that he might be a merciful and kind Saviour, and sympathize with us in all things. He was tempted as we are. He is the most gentle and most approachable being that ever walked this earth. He was often reviled, but he never resented it. He suffered, but he never threatened. He was mocked, but he never showed bitterness.

He

The great Physician cured the first case He ever undertook, and He has had great experience since. He has cured millions. The realms of glory are filled with the wonders of mercy which He has wrought. He never wounds where cordials are called for. never heals slightly the hurt of his people. He probes deeply every imposthume. He loves his people too well to let them die rather than cut off the gangrene. He gives wine and oil to the faint and wounded. He gives no peace to those who add drunkenness to thirst.

To the truly penitent and godly Jesus is very tender and gracious. He never breaks the bruised reed, nor will he quench the smoking flax. He also goes where He is most needed and sought unto. Our poverty is nothing, for He does all without money and without price. Our wretchedness is nothing, for the first word of his ministry was, Blessed. Our unworthiness is nothing, for His merits are infinite. Our necessities may be great, but His riches are unsearchable. O wondrous Physician! To thee I submit my

case, my whole case. I know nothing. I reserve nothing. I deserve nothing. I am nothing but a poor lost sinner. Unless Thou undertake, I shall be for ever undone. Saviour, be patient with me. Spare me. Heal my diseases. Then will I give thee glory for ever, and spread thy fame through heaven and earth.

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CHAPTER XXVI.

CHRISTIAN LIBERTY.

NEW things are more commended or less understood than Christian liberty. Most men praise it; not many maintain it. The vile Antinomian boasts of it, and casts off the cords of the moral law. The bigot praises it, and counts you a fool because you do not adopt his whims. The superstitious lauds it, and makes himself a slave of some imposture. The openly profane struts, and swaggers, and is the servant of corruption.

What then is Christian liberty? The comfort and usefulness of many are destroyed by not understanding this matter.

1. The first element of Christian liberty is freedom from the ceremonial law of Moses. At this time the Christian world is undivided respecting this matter. This was not always so. The apostles had much trouble, and even Peter was involved in dissimulation on the subject.

2. Believers are free from the moral law as a covenant of works. "Ye are not under the law, but under grace," Rom. vi. 14. "Ye are become dead to the law by the body of Christ," Rom. vii. 4.

3. God's people are free from the penalty of the

moral law which we have all broken. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us," Gal. iii. 13. The Judge himself, by his own most precious blood, has opened the prison doors, and said to the prisoners, Go free.

4. Christ sets his people free from the torments of a guilty conscience. They are not crushed with a sense of terrible condemnation. He, who has a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, is indeed in a sad plight. He has a hell upon earth. But the blood of Jesus Christ speaks as perfect peace to the conscience as it does at the throne of God.

5. Christ sets his people free from the reigning power of sin. The unconverted are the slaves of lust, of pride, of malice and of all iniquity. They are led captive by the devil at his will. But to his people, Christ makes good the promise, "Sin shall not have dominion over you." He preaches deliverance to the captives and sets at liberty them that are bruised, Luke iv. 18.

6. Christ frees his people from the evil of afflictions, though not from afflictions themselves.

7. Jesus Christ also delivers his people, who, through the fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage-a dreadful bondage indeed.

Such are the chief elements of Christian liberty taken in the broadest sense. But

8. The liberty of Christians, while it makes them Christ's freemen, and binds them in chains of love to his service, DELIVERS THEM FROM THE ORDINANCES AND COMMANDMENTS OF MEN IN ALL MATTERS OF FAITH, WORSHIP AND MORALS. This is the sense in which the term Christian liberty is now most commonly used.