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THE VISIT. 




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PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 



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THE VISIT. 



Some time ago I was informed that a poor 
woman whom I had occasionally seen and spoken 
to in the houses of my neighbors, was in a very 
declining state of health. I took an early oppor- 
tunity to visit her. I found her sitting by the 
fire, with her infant asleep on her lap. She was 
so changed, that I should scarcely have recol- 
lected her; but she welcomed me with great 
pleasure, and thanked me much for coming so far 
to see her. 

After inquiring the particulars of her illness, 
I remarked that it was hard sometimes for poor 
blind creatures like us to see the hand of love in 
taking away our greatest comforts, as much as 
in giving them. 

She shook her head, and looked up. 
"Tell me," said I, "are you able to do this?" 
She answered very emphatically. " My trust is 
in Ai mighty God." 

" But why do you trust him V 
"Because I know he is just and merciful." 
" But do you understand how he can be both 
just and merciful together ?" 



4 THE VISIT. 

She looked as if she did not comprehend rny 

meaning. 

"Are we not sinners?" I asked. 

"Yes, indeed, very great sinners," said she. 

'•Well, God's justice bids him punish us for 
our sins. How can he become merciful without 
ceasing to be just? His justice would send us to 
hell; we confess that we deserve it, should he 
do so ; yet you expect to go to heaven ; at least, I 
suppose you do." 

"Yes; I pray to him to forgive me my sins, 
and I trust that he will be merciful, and take me 
to heaven." 

I considered the case of poor Mary : it was 
clear that she acknowledged herself a sinner, and 
that she had no appeal except to the mercy of 
God. But then she was ignorant of the only 
plea by which a sinner can approach him ; and 
my task was clearly to exhibit Christ to her, as 
the propitiation for our sins. 

I secretly prayed for direction; and then, after 
expressing my grief to think what pain she was 
suffering, and suggesting some relief to it, I re- 
turned to my work, saying, "It is so comforting, 
when we feel the hand of God laid heavily upon 
us, to remember that he docs not take pleasure 
in afflicting his poor creatures, but makes it a 
means for good to them, if they be willing to 
profit by it." 



THE VISIT 



"Ah yes," said she with a smile of satisfac- 
tion, which arose, as I well knew, from the belief 
that her bodily pains would assist to make satis- 
faction for her sins. 

" I will tell you a most interesting story," said 
I, "of something which happened very many 
hundreds of years ago, but which is perfectly 
true. There were a multitude of people, a nation 
called Israelites, to whom God had an especial 
favor. They had been sorely oppressed by a 
mightier nation than themselves, so that their 
sufferings were dreadful. In the midst of this 
affliction, God had wonderfully delivered them, 
bringing them out in safety from the land of 
Egypt; and when their enemies pursued them 
even to the sea-side, he caused the waters to part 
and stand on heaps, and led them through, with 
their children and cattle, as on dry ground." 

"Glory be to God!" said Mary, devoutly. 

"Amen," said I. " Having saved the Israelites 
from their foes, ho brought them forward towards 
a, rich land, which he had promised to give them ; 
but the way being through a great wilderness, 
where they were perfect strangers, the Lord God 
led them by a remarkable cloud through the day, 
and at night by a pillar of fire. To feed them, 
he rained bread from heaven; and when they 
wished for meat, he sent them birds without 
number, falling about their camp. For drink, he 



JL 



g THE VISIT. 

opened a hard rock, and gave them water abun- 
dantly; and he suffered not their garments to 
wear out, nor their feet to swell ; and he de- 
stroyed kings with their armies, who would have 
opposed their progress. After all this, think what 
must have been their ingratitude and sin, to mur- 
mur against God, and wish themselves back in 
Egypt again." 

"That was shocking. " 

"Yes; and it provoked a dreadful punishment. 
The Lord sent among them fiery serpents, terri- 
ble creatures, which hit the people ; and so 
poisonous were they, that every one who was 
bitten would certainly have died. There was no 
cure found ; no physician could help, no medicine 
could relieve them, and in a short time a great 
number of the people lay dead, while many more 
were dying around." 

My poor hearer seemed deeply interested, 
anxiously waiting for the sequel, but said nothing. 
I continued, "Now there was a good man named 
Moses, who had been appointed by the Lord 
God to take charge of all these Israelites ; the 
people came to him, expressing their sorrow for 
having sinned against God, and beseeching him 
to pray for them, that the serpents might be 
taken away. Moses did so, and the Lord heard 
him * and what do you suppose was the answer?" 
"Did the Almighty take the serpents away? 77 



THE VISIT 



"He appointed an extraordinary thing. He 
ordered Moses to make a serpent of brass, like 
the fiery serpents, and to set it on a pole, high 
enough for all the people to see ; and when any 
one was bitten by the fiery serpents, if he came 
and looked at that serpent of brass, he was im- 
mediately cured, restored to health and strength 
Was not this wonderful?" 

'•Surely it was. God is very merciful." 
"But now, listen to me very attentively. 
When the blessed Lord Jesus our Saviour was 
upon earth, there came to him one night a learned 
man, a Jew, who wanted to be taught "by him 
the way to serve God. Our Lord told him what 
he had never before understood, that the right 
way to serve God was by believing in his only 
Son Jesus Christ ; and he spoke these words to 
Nicodemus: 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life.' : 

Here Mary fixed her eyes on me with a look 
of awakened interest, such as I have many times 
observed to follow upon this plan of first relating, 
as an interesting story, the narrative contained 
in the 21st chapter of Numbers, and then pro- 
ceeding to its application. 

"You will observe," said I, "how beautifully 
the whole story of the serpents agrees with what 



THE VISIT. 



our Lord Jesus came to do; and as Nicodemus 
knew quite well what happened to his forefathers 
in the wilderness, it was no doubt very delight- 
ful to him. By the help of God the Holy Spirit, 
Nicodemus might then understand — and so may 
you and I— that wo all are like the Israelites. 
How many great mercies has God shown to us ; 
how tenderly has he cared for us; how many 
dangers has ho delivered us from; how bounti- 
fully he has fed and clothed us ; and how readily 
he would have given us the good land of heaven 
to possess for ever and ever. But alas, are we 
not full of wicked rebellion and murmuring and 
mistrusting and grieving this compassionate Fa- 
ther—as ready to provoke him, as he is to bless 

and favor us?" 

"We are very bad sinners indeed^ she said 
with much feeling; "but He is so merciful." _ 

" Yes, and He has a particular way of being 
merciful— one only way, as the history has shown 
us. You know He could have destroyed the ser- 
pents, and cured the Israelites at a word ; but 
then we should have lost the great lesson which 
our Lord gave to Nicodemus and to us. Oh Mary, 
ou r sins are the bites of a fiery serpent, and there is 
no help, no cure, to be found among us. All are 
bitten, all are dying, all want assistance, and 
none can give it. In this dreadful condition, God 
has prepared a wonderful cure. You know, the 



THE VISIT 



serpent which Moses made was like those de- 
stroying creatures; it was lifted up 011 high; and 
the cure was done by looking at it. Even so the 
eternal Son of God took upon him the likeness 
of sinful flesh ; he was lifted up on the cross, as 
the serpent was on the pole ; and it is by believ- 
ing that He can entirely cure and save us, hav- 
ing been so lifted up, that we escape rum." 

She had fixed her eyes on me more intently 
than ever, and I was greatly encouraged. With 
secret prayer,Iproceeded: ''Suppose apoor wound- 
ed Israelite lying in his tent, dying under the 
an-uish of a fiery wound ; and that another comes 
and says to him, 'There is a remedy— you may 
yet live. A serpent of brass has been set up on 
a pole by God's command ; and whosoever looks 
upon it "is healed at once. Come, do not delay; 
look and live.' You can fancy the poor creature, 
able to believe that what God has said shall 
surely come to pass, crawling along from his tent 
till he comes within sight of the brazen serpent, 
lifting his dying eyes, and gazing on it with a 
Ion- earnest look: you can fancy him delivered 
from pain, springing to his feet fall of life and 
health and joy ; and then falling down to worship 
his God in heaven, who had so wonderfully de- 
livered him from death." 

"Glory be to the Almighty God!" was her 
fervent ejaculation. 



m^HMHH 



10 



THE VISIT 



"Well, this Israelite was saved because he 
believed. We must now suppose another, who, 
in the same state of suffering, received the samo 
message; and who might have replied, ' Why do 
you mock me with such idle words ? The physi- 
cian might do me some good, perhaps; there may 
be medicine that would relieve me. salve that 
could heal these burning wounds ; but who can 
be so mad as to think that looking on a bit of 
brass will do it?' To this the othex might again 
reply, that God had appointed u, as the only 
means of cure : but the dying man, still refusing 
to believe that God had made such a simple rem- 
edy sufficient, would remain where he was, and 
perish. Tell me, in that case, what would be 
the cause of his destruction?'' 

" He would not believe that God had put the 
serpent there to cure him," said she. 

"Just, so; and just such poor dying, obstinate, 
unbelieving sinners are we. God's hand is 
stretched out to punish us for our wickedness, 
and we know that we deserve only his wrath. 
We are full of sin, which we can no more get 
free from, than the wounded Israelites from the 
poison of the fiery bites. In this miserable state, 
we are told that Jesus Christ was nailed to the 
cross for us, to make satisfaction for our sins, by 
suffering in' our stead, and that, believing in him, 
we shall be saved. We ask, ' How are we to be- 



THE VISIT 11 

lieve?' We are to look on him as the Israelites 
did on the brazen serpent, convinced that he is 
the only helper, and that his help is sufficient for 
us. We doivt know how to credit this : we reply, 
that we must have other help — that our clergy, 
indeed, can doctor our souls; that the medicine 
of our prayers and alms, our fastings, and what 
we imagine to be good works, may do a good deal 
towards our cure; but the word that bids us 
c Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 
be saved, ; seems as idle as the word which told 
the wretched Israelite to look on the serpent of 
brass, and he should live. You don't justify the 
obstinate man who refused to do this, and so died 
in his tent; because it was God's message, and he 
ought to have believed it. Can we justify our- 
selves, if we persist in rejecting what is equally 
God's message to us, and die in our sins, by dis- 
believing that precious assurance which I before 
repeated to you, c As Moses lifted up the serpent 
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man 
be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life?' 
Oh, do not perish, when everlasting life is offered 
to you. Do not perish, merely because you think 
it impossible that God should have dealt so very 
mercifully with you. as to lay upon another the 
work which you never could have done for your- 
self. It is his own word too : 'God so loved the 



^2 THE VISIT. 

world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have everlasting life.' 

The evening was closing; and the little cot- 
tage became so dark that I could no longer see 
the changes of Mary's countenance. I said, •] 
hope I have not fatigued you." 

"Ono, no!" 

< : Well, they are precious truths that I have 
told you • and though it is getting late, I will tell 
you how sweetly they comforted a poor hoy who 
died some time ago. I brought him over from 
our own dear Ireland— he was deaf and dumb. 
He had many remarkable thoughts about the 
Saviour, and placed his whole trust in him. He 
used to tell me, that in a great book God had 
written down all his sins, which, he said, were 
very many; but that Jesus Christ had opened 
that book and passed his hand over the leaf-- 
that dear hand which was torn by the cruel nails 
when they fastened him to the cross. The bleed- 
mo- hand had. as my Irish boy said, blotted out 
the writmo- ; so that when God looked in the book 
for Jack's sins, he saw only the blood of his dear 
Son. slain for such sinners." 

Mary at this suddenly clasped her hands, and 
lifted them up with a cry for mercy, as if she had 
just then seen the way in which it was to be 
found. I was rejoiced, and went on. ■ 1 bat 



THE VISIT. 



13 



beautiful thought made my poor boy's life happy, 
h.s death-bed peaceful, and his end glorious. 
Now he is in heaven, blessing and praising God, 
who gave his dear Son to die for him, and also 
gave him grace to believe it. The serpent lifted 
up by Moses was but a bit of brass — in itself 
it had no power or holiness; it was, however, 
carefully preserved by the Jews as a memorial 
of this great deliverance ; yet, after a while. I ho 
ignorant people began to worship it, and so dis- 
honored God, and brought more of his anger upon 
themselves; on which account the good king 
Hezekiah caused it to be broken in pieces and 
destroyed. In like manner, some in our day are 
so foolish as to pay a sort of worship to images 
and pictures, as if they had any thing to do with 
the blood shed for our redemption. The great 
enemy of our souls well knows that salvation is 
to be had simply by looking to the Lord Jesus, 
as the only propitiation for our sins : Satan, there- 
fore, is glad to put any thing between us and the 
Saviour that can hinder our doing so. My poor 
wounded friend, God has smitten your body with 
sickness, and your heart, I think, with a sense of 
your sinful, helpless state. Take comfort: the 
body may pine in sickness, and moulder in the 
grave ; but if you ha,ve faith to believe the ten- 
der loving-kindness of your God, the soul shall be 
saved in the dav of I he Lord Jesus." 



14 



THE VISIT. 



When I rose to depart, she grasped my hand, anx- 
iously saying, " Will you come and see me again ? '' 

"Yes, indeed. God willing, I will come often, 
if you desire it." 

And I often visited her: during the last three 
months of her life, I went to her almost every 
day, and saw the work of grace proceed, step by 
step, until she was removed from grace to glory. 
About six weeks before her death, in the midst of 
dreadful bodily torture from an internal cancer, 
she was speaking with great animation of the 
bright and happy place to which she was going: 
I remarked, ' : You are always very confident; 
have you no fear that you may come short of 
heaven at last?" 
" No, I have not." 
" Are you not a great sinner ?" 
" yes. a very great one indeed !" 
"Are you never afraid that, at last, God may 
show you the number and guilt of your sins, and 
tell you that He, who is all holiness and purity, 
cannot admit so vile a creature to dwell with 

him?" 

" No, I am not afraid of that." 

"Why not?" 

li Because he is just and true : he cannot lie." 
"Most certainly he cannot; but, dear Mary, 
that is what I want to know, how his excluding 
you from heaven, where no evil thing can come, 



THE VISIT. 15 

would be telling a lie. Has he ever said any 
thing to you that will oblige him to receive you 

at last?" 

She fixed her eyes on me with a keen and steady 
expression, deliberately replying, " Yes, he has." 
"When, and how?" 

"He has said. Whoever will come to me shall 
not perish, but have everlasting life; and it was 
to save sinners that he died on the cross." 

These were her very words; they made my 
heart leap with joy, but I went on : 

" And do you really think that will be answer 
enough to all that can be said against you?" 
« Yes, it will." 

About the time at which the last-mentioned 

conversation took place, I was reading to dear 

Mary the temptation of our Lord— pointing out 

to her that in every instance he baffled the enemy 

by bringing forward the written word of God. 

When dwelling on the passage, "It is written, 

then, shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him 

only shalt thou serve," I was surprised at her 

exclaiming, "Hark! I think I hear my father 

saying, 'Listen, children, to me : there is none to 

be worshipped but God alone; honor is due to 

none other— worship God only.' 

Rather puzzled, I asked, "Who said that?" 
" My father : when I was six years old, he 
used to read the Bible to us— it was always in 



■BBBHSSXflt&nmBHHH 



16 



THE VISIT 



his hand. 0, yes ; and now I remember how 1 
knelt down and prayed, after my father had read 
to me out of the Bible— I remember it all now. 
0. my Saviour, how I have been forgetting it all 

these years !" 

She laid her hands over her face, and appeared 
quite overwhelmed. I was lost in astonishment 
and thankfulness. I saw the seed springing up 
which a pious father had sown twenty-six years 
before; and I wanted faith rightly to believe the 
delightful truth in which 1 was then rejoicing. 
From that time she frequently interrupted our 
reading with, < ; I remember that." "I have 
heard my father say that." Mary had not en- 
joyed the counsel of her pious father since she 
was six years old. Reader, have you an infant 
charge? Remember Mary, and "in the morning 

sow thy seed." 

Not long after, we were privileged to stand 
beside our dear Mary when she sweetly breathed 
her soul into the hands of her -Redeemer, while 
we -ave thanks to God the Father for the victory 
achieved, in the name of his dear Son, through the 
power of the Holy Ghost : " For of him, and to 
him, and through him, are all things; to whora 
be glory for ever. Amen." 



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