340. Monday after Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.
Know that Jesus Christ is our God,
and that there is no other Savior.
Matthew 15, 29-31. And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.
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Search the world and see, if you can find any other like our Lord Jesus! Search among the ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans; search among the Hindoos, Arabians, and Persians; among the sages of the past and the present; among the mighty intellects, the great and the good among men. Search among the angels, if you can, among the princes of heaven; ascend into the high, or descend into the deep, there is none like Jesus. He, he is the only one who can and will save us. His power and mercy are equal. Of none other can it be said, as it is said of him: “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” “Great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at his feet; and he healed them.” He is more to us than any other is or could be; he alone is just what we need. We are sinners; he is the Savior of sinners. We are sick; he is the physician of the sick. We are unrighteous; he is our righteousness. We are the captives of death; he is the destroyer of death. He has a remedy for your every ailment. You are wretched in body and soul; Jesus heals them both. He takes away your guilt, and cleanses your soul; he destroys the poison which is the cause of all your trouble, and you are made pure and well forever. “He forgiveth all thine iniquities, and healeth all thy diseases; he satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” — Then again, he turns not one away who seeks healing at his hands. None, no not one, is so wretched, so evil, so wicked, but that he shall receive, if he come to Jesus and ask help of him. Note this well: Jesus never has cast off any man, not one, who came to him, and wished to be saved. His whole life certifies to the truth of what himself says: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” How blessed and happy are we, who have such a master! I have found him whom my soul sought, whom my soul loveth; my Savior and Physician, my King and God, my life and my heaven! All is well; and all that is in me praise his holy name. Hallelujah!
Draw us all to thee, Lord Jesus; thou hast room for us all. Heal us, and save us; so shall we rejoice, and serve one another before thy face, and give praise to the Father, who with thee and the Holy Ghost is one true God from everlasting. Amen.*
At even, ere the sun was set,
The sick, O Lord, around thee lay;
Oh, in what divers pains they met!
Oh, with what joy they went away!
Once more ’tis eventide, and we,
Oppressed with various ills, draw near;
What if thy form we cannot see?
We know and feel that thou art here.
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.