After the battle of Murfreesboro, in the Civil War, I was
serving as chaplain stationed in the hospital. For two nights I had been unable
to get any rest, and being really worn out, on the third night I had lain down
to sleep. About midnight I was called to see a wounded soldier who was very
low. At first I tried to put the messenger off, but he told me that if I waited
it might be too late in the morning. I went to the ward where I had been
directed, and found the man who had sent for me. I shall never forget his face
as I saw it that night in the dim, uncertain candle-light. I asked what I could
do for him, and he said that he wanted me to "help him die." I told
him I would bear him in my arms into the kingdom of God if I could, but I
couldn't; and then I tried to preach the Gospel.
He only shook his head and said— "He
can't save me; I have sinned all my life."
My thoughts went back to his loved ones in the North, and I
thought that even then his mother might be praying for her boy. I repeated
promise after promise, and prayed with the dying man; but nothing I said seemed
to help him. Then I said that I wanted to read to him an account of an
interview which Christ had one night while here on earth with a man who was
anxious about his eternal welfare, and I read the 3rd chapter of John, how
Nicodemus came to the Master. As I read on, his eyes became riveted upon me,
and he seemed to drink in every syllable. When I came to the words, "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 eternal
life," he stopped me and asked—
"Is that there?"
"
Yes," I said.
"Well," he said, "I never knew that was in
the Bible. Read it again."
Leaning his elbows on the side of the cot he brought his
hands together in a firm grasp, and when I finished he exclaimed—
"That's good. Won't you read it again?"
Slowly I repeated the passage the third time. When I
finished, I saw that his eyes were closed, and the troubled expression on his
face had given way to a peaceful smile. His lips moved, and I bent over him to
catch what he was saying, and heard in a faint whisper, "'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 eternal life.'
"
He opened his eyes and said, "That's enough; don't read
any more."
Early next morning I again came to his cot, but it was
empty. The attendant in charge told me the young man had died peacefully, and
said that after my visit he had rested quietly, repeating to himself, now and
then, that glorious proclamation, "Whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have eternal life."
—Anecdotes, Incidents and
Illustrations
