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 was of an amiable and sympathetic disposition, and in appearance also I thought he bore a 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 n
“It is just that,” he said sorrowfully.
“Well, listen; I shall put the whole thing before you in a nutshell. Adam disobeyed God, and through his sin all his posterity is 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 helpless to atone for one out of your 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.
Reader, I have told you this simple story, just as it was related to me by the young London doctor whose patient the old man was, in order that you also may be led to see that you are a poor lost sinner, and that the Lord Jesus is your all-sufficient Saviour. You may be of an amiable and sympathetic disposition, as the old man of the story was, but that will not bring you nearer to God. You may have spent long years in trying to please God by prayers and works, but that will never be a ground for you to stand upon in the presence of His holiness. “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,” God says; and the very best thing you can bring Him, will still leave you but a naked sinner in His sight. Will you not let Him clothe you in His best robe? By nature and by practice you are far from God, “for all have sinned,” therefore you are unfit for His presence; but washed in the blood of Jesus, you, a filthy vile sinner, will be perfectly spotless in the presence of that God who is Light. Poor sinner, God loves you; Jesus died instead of you. Believe it, and you need not fear to stand before Him. Take this one word from God Himself, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth fron1 all sin” (1 John 1:7).
E. L. W.