Welcome to the Banner of Truth. The following program of inspiration is brought to you by the Free Reformed Church with locations in Monarch, Lacombe, and Calgary. And now, the Banner of Truth with Pastor Jack Shuman. Our scripture reading this morning is taken from the prophecy of Jeremiah chapter 8. We read the verses 14 through 22. Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves and let us enter into the defense cities, and let us be silent there, for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. We looked for peace, but no good came, and for a time of health, and behold, trouble. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan, The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones. For they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it, the city, and those that dwell therein. For behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices among you which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord. When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people, because of them that dwell in a far country. Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images and with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt. I am black. Astonishment hath taken hold on me." And now this next verse is the text for our sermon this morning. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? Dear friends, what do you do when you get sick? Well, if the sickness is minor, such as a cold or a flu, you'll probably stay at home, get plenty of rest and wait until you're well enough to resume your daily routine. But if your sickness is major, you will probably go to the doctor, perhaps even to the hospital. That only makes sense. After all, why suffer when you can get the help you need? Well, the people of Judah, to whom Jeremiah was writing, were in a very similar situation. They too were sick. Not physically, but spiritually. In fact, they were so sick that unless they received the proper remedy, they would die. And the Lord knew this. And so, out of compassion for his covenant people, he sent the prophet Jeremiah to tell them that there was a remedy available. It is the balm of Gilead. What is this balm? And what did the people of Judah do with this balm? These are the questions we'd like to consider in our sermon this morning. The theme for the sermon is Jeremiah points the people of Judah to the balm of Gilead and we'll see that this balm is first of all desperately needed, secondly it is readily available, and thirdly it is sadly neglected. The words of our text were written by the prophet Jeremiah sometime during the waning years of the reign of King Josiah from 640 to 609 BC. Josiah you recall was a godly king even though his father Ammon was not. Immediately upon assuming the throne Josiah initiated a program of religious reform. He tore down the high places which had been set up by Ammon. He executed the pagan prophets of Bethel. and he reinstituted the worship of Jehovah. As time went on, however, it became apparent that these reforms were only skin deep. The temple worship had resumed, but the people themselves remained unchanged. They worshipped God, but their hearts were still far from Him. Jeremiah provides some insight into their condition in the preceding chapter, in chapter 7, There he lists the various sins of the people of Judah. First, they trusted in outward worship. Chapter 7, verse 4, Jeremiah writes, Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. Evidently, the people believed that as long as they were going through the motions of worship, they were safe. As long as they had the temple, they were okay. Nothing would harm them. Secondly, they were cruel and unjust to their neighbors. Verse 6 speaks of the people oppressing the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and shedding innocent blood. Verse 9 speaks of the people stealing, murdering, committing adultery, and swearing falsely, all of which were forbidden by the law of God. Thirdly, they ignored the Lord's repeated calls to repent. Verse 13, the Lord says, He spoke to them, rising up early and speaking, but they did not hear. He called them, but they did not answer. Fourthly, they continued to worship idols. In verse 18, we read these words, The children gather woods, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. They even engaged in child sacrifice. Verse 31, we read, And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. All the sins of the people of Judah were great. Jeremiah compares them in chapter 8 verse 11 and again in verse 21 to a hurt. The Hebrew word here refers not to a superficial wound but rather to a deep gash or to the breaking, crushing, and shattering of bones. The point is their sins were very serious. They were so serious they had the potential to become fatal unless they received the proper treatment. Dear friends, it's no different with us by nature. Like the people of Judah, we too have a hurt. We too have sinned against the Lord. In fact, we have committed exactly the same sins as the people of Judah. For do some of us not trust in outward worship? How many of us are there who are not content with a mere outward religion? We think as long as I go to church, as long as I go through all the motions, everything will be fine. My dear friend, that's a real danger, especially for those of us who have grown up with the truth of the word of God. And if this describes you, if this describes your condition this morning, then you are no different than the people of Judah. You are sick. And unless you receive the proper treatment, you will die. And what about loving our neighbor as ourselves? Do we do that? Oh, we may not have committed murder or adultery or similar sins as the people of Judah did. But have we not committed these same sins in our hearts? Jesus says that if we merely look at a woman with lustful thoughts, we have committed adultery in our hearts. Or if we hate our brother without a cause, we have committed murder in our hearts. Any thought or feeling or sentiment that is not in complete harmony with the law of God is a transgression of the law of God. Do you realize that? How do you measure up in relation to the law of God? Have you loved your neighbor as yourself? If not, then you are no different than the people of Judah. You are sick, and unless you receive the proper treatment, you will die. And what about the many repeated calls to repent? Have we heeded them? How many sermons have we not heard in which we were solemnly and earnestly warned to flee from the wrath to come? How many times have we not been urged, invited, encouraged, commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the saving of our soul? And what has been your response to those messages? Have you simply let them go in one ear and out the other? Must it be said of you what Jeremiah said of the people of Judah in verse 20? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. How sad to have sat under the preaching of the Word of God for so many years, and yet never to have responded to it in faith and repentance. My friend, does that describe you this morning? If so, you are no different from the people of Judah. You are sick, and unless you receive the proper treatment, you will die. Fourthly and finally, do we not also worship idols? Oh, to be sure, we may not have actually bowed down to an idol of wood or stone, much less offered our children to such an idol. But have we not worshipped idols nonetheless? What is idolatry? One of the great confessions of the Protestant Reformation, the Heidelberg Catechism, has an answer to that question. Lord's Day 34, question and answer 95. The question is, what is idolatry? And listen to the answer. Idolatry is, instead of or besides that one true God who has manifested Himself in His Word, to contrive or have any other object in which men place their trust. Well, what about you? Do you always place your trust in God and God alone? Or do you place it in yourself, in other people, in organizations, in government, in money, in your physical appearance, in your intellect. If so, then you are no different than the people of Judah. You are sick, and unless you receive the proper treatment, you will die. Do you see this? By nature we do not see this at all. By nature we think we are healthy, and that when we die we will automatically go to heaven, that all is well. The only way we will ever see our true condition is if God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, opens our eyes to see it. Has He done that in your life? Oh, my friend, how necessary that is. You see, unless we know that we are sick, indeed, unless we feel ourselves to be sick, we will never seek for a remedy. We will die and go to hell. And therefore, we need to pray daily, Lord, show me my sin. Give me an even deeper impression of who and what I am. Show me how sick I am, that I may seek deliverance that can only be found in thee. The people of Judah, therefore, were very sick. Their sin was like an open, festering wound, which, if left untreated, would most certainly be fatal. But thanks be to God, there is a remedy for this wound. that is readily available, and we look at that under our second point. Although the Lord would have been perfectly just to allow his people to die in their sins, he does not do that. Instead, he sends the prophet Jeremiah to tell them that there is a remedy available, and where they can find this remedy. And where can it be found? Where can the remedy for our sin be found? Well, certainly not in ourselves. That's a mistake that many people make. There are many people today who will admit that they're not perfect. They will even admit that they are sinners. But they say the way to overcome this is entirely up to us. We must strive to improve ourselves. We must pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, so to speak. Then everything will be fine. That is also what the religious teachers of the Jews taught during the time of Jeremiah. chapter 8 verse 11 we read that they healed the hurt of God's people slightly saying peace peace when there was no peace the religious leaders of the Jews taught the people that as long as they did their best all would be well as long as they observed all of the laws and rituals of the law of Moses they had nothing to worry about all would be peace Jeremiah however contradicts that he says there will be no peace why not because their sin was far more serious than the religious leaders suggested. It was so serious that they could not heal it themselves. They had to seek outside help. But where? Where could they go? Where could they find the remedy that they needed? Jeremiah told them, to Gilead. This is implied by Jeremiah's question. Jeremiah asks, is there no balm in Gilead? What we have here is a rhetorical question, meaning the answer is obvious or implied. By asking, is there no balm in Gilead, Jeremiah is really saying there is a balm, a balm for sin, and it can be found in Gilead. Obviously, Jeremiah is not to be taken literally here. He was not saying that there was an actual balm in Gilead that could take away our sins. He's using figurative language. You see, in Bible times, Gilead, which is the region east of the Jordan River, was well known for its balm. The balm produced in Gilead actually had medicinal properties. It promoted the healing of wounds. For this reason, it was very valuable. Thus, in Genesis 37 verse 25, we read that the Ishmaelite traders who bought Joseph from his brothers and sold him into slavery in Egypt were carrying with them spices and balm from Gilead. Similarly, in Genesis 43 verse 11, Jacob instructed his sons to take some balm and give it to Joseph as a present. The Jeremiah uses this image, an image with which many of the people of Judah would have been familiar, to represent the forgiving grace of God. It is as though he is saying, the people of Judah have sinned, but there is a remedy for sin. It is the balm of Gilead. This balm is like a soothing oil that one pours on an infected wound. It comforts, it heals, it restores, and it is readily available. In fact, it can be found right in their own backyard, just over the Jordan River. Therefore, they should make use of it before it is too late. Well, my friends, this same message comes to us with perhaps even more force. Yes, like the people of Judah, we too have sinned. We saw that under our first point. And therefore, we too need a balm. And my friend, we have such a balm. A greater balm than that of Gilead. We have the blood of Christ. This is the ultimate balm. This is the balm to which the balm of Gilead pointed. It is to the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, by means of this balm, all of our sins can be washed away. Our past sins, our present sins, our future sins, our sins of omission, our sins of commission, our sins of thought, our sins of word, our sins of deed, our original sin and our actual sin, they can all be washed away in the blood of Christ. Apostle John says the blood of Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness. There is no sin that cannot be healed by this balm. Moreover, in Gilead there is a physician to apply this balm. There were many physicians in Gilead during the time of Jeremiah. They tended to congregate there because of the balm that was produced there. But we have an even greater physician He is the best, most qualified physician in the whole world. He is well acquainted with our condition. He experienced its effects firsthand, and he knows exactly how to treat it. What is more, he is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year. His name is Jesus Christ. And if you will only repent of your sin and ask Him to apply this balm to your hurting soul, you too can be healed and restored and forgiven. My friend, have you done that? Beloved, we, in Christ, we have a never-ending supply of balm and a qualified physician to apply this balm. But the question is, have you made use of Him? Have you come to him confessing your sins and your unworthiness? Have you ever told him how sick you are? And have you ever asked him to heal you with his precious balm? That is so vital. You see, unless we come to him for healing, we cannot be saved. For he is the only one who has the necessary remedy and the necessary skill to apply this remedy. Oh, since that is so, my friend, do not delay. He is so willing, He is so able to heal your hurt, if you will only come to Him with a broken and a contrite heart. Will you do that? Sad to say, the people of Judah did not. We turn to that under our third and final point. Although there was a remedy for the sin of the people of Judah and a physician to apply this remedy, many of the people remained sick. This is clear from the last part of our text, where after acknowledging that there was indeed a balm in Gilead, Jeremiah asks a question. He asks, why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? Why did their health not recover? Was it because the balm was not effective? Not at all. The balm that is in Jesus Christ is always effective. There is no sin too grievous, no sinner too sinful that the blood of Christ cannot heal. It healed an idolater like Manasseh. It healed a persecutor like Paul. It healed a murderer like the thief on the cross. The blood of Christ can heal anyone and anything. Was it because there was not enough of this balm to go around? That cannot be either. For the blood of Christ, the scripture says, is sufficient to take away the sins of the entire world. Was the problem then with the physician? Was it because the physician was unqualified? That cannot be either. For as we have seen, he is the most qualified physician in the entire world. The writer to the Hebrew says he was tempted in every point as we are yet without sin. Was he too busy then? That can also not be the case. For the scriptures say the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him. He also will hear their cry and will save them. Why then were the people of Judah not healed? Why was their health not recovered? The answer is this. It is because they refuse. Oh, they knew there was a balm in Gilead, but they refused to make use of it. They knew there was a physician there, but they refused to call upon him. We know this because within a few years after this prophecy was given, the city of Jerusalem was besieged. and most of the inhabitants of Judah were led away captive to Babylon. They could have avoided this fate had they only repented of their sins and turned to the Lord, but they did not. They chose to remain sick rather than be healed, and as a result, many of them perished. It was no different during the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. For three years, Jesus preached to the Jews concerning the kingdom of God. He told the people that they were sinners, but that by believing on him, by trusting in his atoning sacrifice on the cross, they could be saved and receive the gift of everlasting life. He also performed many miracles to confirm the truth of this teaching. He made his balm, he made himself readily available. But many remained sick, and even perished in their sins. Why? Because they did not flee to Him when they had the chance. And thus in Matthew 23 verse 37, as Jesus approached the end of His earthly ministry, He cried out with a loud voice, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not." Did you hear what Jesus says there? And ye would not. That's the reason why many of them perished. And that's the reason why many perish still today. It is not because the Lord is unwilling, but because we are unwilling. The Lord was willing to gather them as a hen gathers her chicks, but they would not. Did that describe anyone listening to my voice this morning? Oh, how many times has the Lord not called you? How many times has the Lord not invited you, urged you to come to Him, but ye would not? And now the Lord comes to you again in the words of our text this morning. He has told you that there is a balm that can heal the vilest sinner. It is the blood of Jesus Christ. And He invites you tenderly, earnestly, lovingly to partake of this balm. Will you do that? Oh, to be sure, this is not something we can do in and of ourselves. Only the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, can make us partakers of this balm. And yet, my friend, we must partake of it. If we do not, we will die. There is a tension here, to be sure, but let this tension drive us to the Lord, saying, Lord, I have sinned. My sin is like an open, festering wound, and unless I receive the proper treatment, I will die. O Lord, help me. Anoint me with this balm of Gilead. Heal me, and I shall be healed. Restore me, and I shall be restored. And live to the glory of thy name. Dear friends, the word of God this morning points us to the balm of Gilead. In this balm there is healing. In this balm there is restoration. In this balm there is life everlasting. And it is offered to you freely, without money, without price. What will you do with this balm? May God give us grace that we may make use of it for the first time or again. Then we shall be healed and live unto Him forever. Amen. Dear friends, this radio broadcast is not meant as a substitute for worshipping in a faithful Bible-believing church. If you are not currently worshipping in such a church, you are welcome to join us for our services in Monarch, Calgary, and Lacombe. It is a great encouragement to us when we hear from our listeners. If you've been blessed by the message you have heard this morning, or if you would like a free CD of the message, please write to the Banner of Truth, Post Office Box 220, Fort McLeod, Alberta, T0L 0Z0. That's the Banner of Truth, Post Office Box 220, Fort McLeod, Alberta, T0L 0Z0. Or you can call me direct at area code 403-553-3400. That's 403-553-3400. For your information, these messages are now being posted on the internet. Enter www.sermonaudio.com in your search engine and search on the banner of truth. If you would like more information about our churches, please log on to our denominational website at www.frcna.org. And now, until next week, may the Lord be with you all. Thank you for listening to the Banner of Truth. For more information about the Banner of Truth and the Free Reformed Churches, visit our website at frcna.org. Services are held every Sunday in Calgary at 9.30 and 2.30, in Lacombe at 10 o'clock and 3 o'clock, and in Monarch at 10 o'clock and 7 o'clock. Pastor Jack Schumann can be reached at 403-553-3400. Join us again next week at the same time for the Banner of Truth. you.