Among my patients there was an old man who suffered from frequent attacks of bronchitis. I took a special interest in him, and always liked to visit him. He as of an amiable and sympathetic disposition, and in appearance also I thought he bore a very striking resemblance to my father. One day I was sent for to see him, and went immediately; but when I arrived was deeply grieved to find him very ill, so ill indeed that I saw he was not likely to recover. There was an eager, wistful, anxious look on his face that was new to it, and on his bed was lying a little prayer-book in which he had evidently been reading. When I entered, he took my hand and said, “Doctor, I am very ill; but, worse than that, I am very unhappy. I think I am dying and I am afraid to die. I have been trying to pray, and the clergyman has been here; but I have not rest; I am not ready to die.”
I thought, “Well, I know what would give him rest; I ought to tell him.” But the thought of my own unfaithfulness rose up before me; I had been living carelessly, as I knew I ought not, and the remembrance of this stopped me. I prescribed for him, bade him good morning, and left; but as I got to the door, something seemed to say, “Go back, and tell him what you know.” An irresistible impulse seized me. “I must go back,” I thought; “I am not worthy to speak; but they won’t be my words, a higher power will speak through me”; and so I returned. He looked up eagerly at me, and I said, “You are unhappy?”
“Yes,” he said.
“You can get no rest; you know that you are a sinner; you have offended God, and have been trying to please Him by praying and striving; you have been trying to believe, and are still unbelieving; the only fruit of all your efforts has been to show you that you are lost; is it not so?”
“It is just that,” he said sorrowfully.
“Well, listen; I shall put the whole story in a nutshell. Adam disobeyed God, and through his sin all his posterity are lost. You have sinned yourself, forgotten and disobeyed God, so that by birth and practice you are doubly condemned. There is no hope for you; you are utterly hopeless to atone for one out of so many sins. But God in His great love provided a remedy; He took His own beloved Son, sent Him down to this world, allowed Him to be nailed to a cross; God Himself laid your sins on Him, and He suffered and died instead of you, and God is satisfied to accept His sufferings, His death, instead of yours, so that you can go free. In fact, you have not got a single thing to do in order to save yourself, because God’s Son has done it all; God is satisfied with what He has done.”
I left him, feeling that I had finished my message. On calling next day I heard the feeble failing voice singing a hymn. His face was quite changed; the look of anxious weariness had given place to one of peaceful happiness. He took both my hands, and looking in my face, said, “Doctor, I thank you; I see it all now. I am dying, but I am not afraid, for I know now that Christ died for me. He is my Redeemer, and I am going to be with Him, for I know that God is satisfied with what Christ has done.”
He lived for a few days longer, and was quite happy all through to the end.
E. L. W.