“I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick…but I will destroy the fat and the strong….” (Ezekiel 34.16.)
Introduction. It is a great mercy that God never leaves his church. Even if, as some affirm, there were no Divine interpositions in the works of Providence, we know that there are some every moment in the works of grace. We have direct experimental evidence of it. God speaks in his wrath to the evil shepherds, yet he mingles his threats with pity for those he elsewhere calls ‘the flock of slaughter.’ If the Lord did not interfere in his church continually, the church would cease to exist. If the doctrines of his holy word had been left to man’s teaching, the church would have no truth left.
(1) Four Features of One Character. (I) ‘That which was lost.’ A man is never lost until he is devoid of all strength. The mariner who has fallen overboard is not lost so long as he clings to that floating piece of timber. So long as you rely on one particle of good works for your redemption, you are under the curse and ban of the law and are not brought to the covenant-plan of mercy. When you can say that God’s will must conquer your own, rejoice! for then God writes you saved. A man is not thoroughly lost until he has come to his wit’s end. Have you come to your wit’s end trying to quit that lust in order to be saved? Are you now locked up in Despair’s castle? Then I recommend the sure promise: Christ came to seek the lost. A man is not lost until the door of hope is shut. Tell the sick man that his case is terminal, and he will cherish the thought that he may yet rally. But the poor sinner, when lost, sees no reason to hope that Christ will have mercy on him. Hear this: Christ came to save you. If you are lost in yourself, you are saved in Christ. Know this, you giddy ones, your damnation draws near. But you who are sighing and groaning because you think your case hopeless, I tell you, your case is hopeful. A lost man beholds the gate of hell opened. Did you ever think that hell might be preferred to your condition? Christ has come to save such as you. But you reply, ‘I am beyond all hope; I cannot believe what you say.’ God’s almighty eye can see to the bottom of your pit. Believe now, and you will be comforted now, for the time of faith is the time of comfort. (II) ‘That which was driven away’: Some could tell you of looking into the well of living water, but getting no drink. Unbelief has driven many a sinner away from Christ just when he was coming. Some preachers preach a gospel so mixed up with the doings of man that poor souls are driven away. But God has said, ‘I will bring again that which was driven away.’ (III, IV) ‘That which was broken’ and ‘that which was sick.’ These are those who have been broken and made sick by being driven away. They are broken by the Holy Spirit and made sick by sin. Is this you? Almost ready to take your life? Does God’s ‘I will’ stand for nothing? ‘I will bind up that which was broken.’
(2) Descriptions of Four Characters. ‘That which was lost’ is the awakened sinner who knows that in Adam he is lost and that by his own sins he is ruined. ‘That which was driven away’ refers to the backslider. Come back, prodigal, come back, the Father’s breast heaves with love for you. Next, the ‘broken’ one. The child of God is often broken by trouble, affliction, the enemy, or inbred sin. Broken one, rejoice, God says, ‘I will heal thee.’ Lastly, the ‘sick’ ones. There are many such among the Lord’s people. Their faith may be weak; their prayers may not be fervent. Ho! despairing soul, if you have all four maladies, you shall have all four promises!
Selection from Conclusion. “But as for such of you as are ‘fat and strong’…If ye are so whole that ye need not the physician, hoot him not while he goes to attend upon those who feel their danger.”
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