THE AUSTRALIAN WIDOW

John Bunyan McCure [1822 – 1883]

The Eyes of the Blind Opened

There was a poor afflicted widow, residing in Wooloomooloo, Sydney, a member of the Anglo Catholic Church; she was looked upon by all who knew her as having attained to human perfection, and was called “that Holy woman.” She trusted in herself she was righteous, and knew not that she was wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Rev. 3, 17). She knew nothing of the new birth and her need of the ‘balm of Gilead,’ the Lord Jesus Christ, the Physician of souls (Matt. 9, 12). She was bowed down under the burden of affliction for thirteen years and for three years was not able to leave her bed. She was suffering from internal cancers. A tumour had grown out of her left side as large as a baby’s head, both feet were paralysed, and likewise one hand; she was always in a high state of fever, and altogether in a weak and helpless condition.

One day I was requested by a friend to see her; on that occasion I spoke to her, supposing that she was a Christian; being informed that such was the case—for at that time I knew nothing whatever respecting her.

The day after my first visit I sent her a tract I had just published, a lecture I had delivered upon “Dominant Popery always the same, whether Rome Papal or Rome Protestant.”

She read the first part without objection, but when she commenced the second part, “Rome Protestant,” she was angry, and said, “It is like his impudence to write of our Church. I hope that he will not come and see me again; if he does I will point him to the door.” After a while, she again took up the tract but was unable to read it because of the enmity of her heart that was now stirred up against the truth. Later in the day, and for the third time, she took it up, and said,”Well, I will read it, and see what he has said about our Church!”

While she was reading it, God the Holy Ghost made it the instrument of His power to her soul; her blind eyes were opened, and her hard heart was broken. Not only was she convinced that her Church was not the Church of Christ, but that she was a sinner before God. During the week I called to see her, when, to my surprise, I found the self-righteous Pharisee weeping and praying, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Her sorrow and trouble respecting her
soul was great. Her prayers were not the book prayers that she had
learned, but the prayers of her heart, “Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.”

In due time the Lord was pleased to say to her, “Thy sins are all forgiven thee,” “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Her joy was now great, unspeakable
and full of glory; the glory of “redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”

Exercise concerning Baptism.

One day when I called I found her the subject of a new trouble respecting baptism. (Now I had never spoken to her upon that subject.) She said to me when I came to her bedside, “I have been reading Matt. 3, 8, and Acts 8, 36 to 39. By God’s Word I am convinced that I have never been baptized. Jesus and all whose baptism is recorded in the New Testament went down into the water, and men and women were baptized on a profession of faith in Christ and repentance towards God. I read that the believing Christians were commanded to be baptized (Acts 10. 47, 48), and they were baptized in the name of Jesus (Acts 8, 12). In John I read the words of Jesus, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’. I am convinced that I have not kept the Lord’s commands, and I am in trouble because I have not obeyed; I have not yielded the obedience of love.” The next day a lady called to see her and, finding her weeping, inquired the cause. “O I have never been baptized,” was the answer. “Nonsense,” said the lady, “I am sure you have the same as I and others, when we were infants.” “But where is the case recorded in the New Testament of infants believing, repenting, and being baptized?”

Two other ladies entered at that moment and listened to the conversation. The three ladies, under the direction of the poor widow, searched the Scriptures, as did the noble Bereans, who “received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so”(Acts 18, 11), and were convinced that baptism, derived from the Greek verb baptizo,
signifies to dip, plunge, immerse; this is the primary meaning of the term.

When I called again to see my afflicted friend, she said, “I want you to baptize me; Jesus whom I love, commands it, therefore I will obey. I have been sprinkled but that is not baptism, you must immerse me in the name of Jesus.”

I then inquired of her, “Is it with you a matter of faith? Do you believe that the Lord will give you strength in your afflicted condition of body to go through the ordinance?”

She replied, “Yes, I do believe, and am sure that God, who is faithful, and who has called me by His grace to walk in the footsteps of those who were followers of Christ, will give me strength to do His will. I believe that baptism by immersion is from heaven, and that it is the will of God that all His believing children should be baptized. My affliction is by the will of God, and I believe that the Lord can either remove my affliction, or give me strength to obey His command in my helpless condition.”

I said, “My dear sister, I will baptize you, for I feel confident that the Lord, who has given you faith to obey His word, will honour that faith, and will sustain you in your obedience to His command, and that you will, by ‘well-doing ….. put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.’ ”

By her request I called the church together. Messengers were appointed to see her; their report being favourable, it was decided that she come before the church, but in consequence of her affliction the church met at her house, and received her experience from her own mouth of the great things the Lord had done for her soul. Although she was received by the church for baptism, none believed she could possibly be baptized. She then desired that a meeting be held once a week at her house for prayer, that the Lord would grant to her strength that she might stand complete in all the will of God. Many times after those meetings she would look up with a smile and say,”Yes, I am sure the Lord will help me, and strengthen me that I may do His will.”

An Anglo-Catholic clergyman called upon her, when the following conversation took place:—

Clergyman.—What new-fangled notions are these that you have got into your head?

Widow.—They are not new-fangled notions, sir: they are as old as Jesus Christ.

Clergyman.—This is some of McCure’s doings.

Widow.—No, sir, you are misinformed, it is Jesus Christ’s doing. Mr. McCure has been the instrument employed—pointing to the printed lecture on the table—and that was the means of opening my blind eyes.

Clergyman.—That’s a diabolical work and it ought to be burned.

Widow.—Do you believe, sir, that the author is a man of the devil?

Clergyman—No; I think that Mr. McCure is a good man and desires to do good.

Widow.—Then how can his work be diabolical, if he is a good man?

Clergyman.—How dare you thus talk to me, who am your spiritual adviser?

Widow.—Sir, you have never been a spiritual adviser to me; you have never once spoken to me about my soul, and the Name of Jesus
and salvation through His blood has never once passed your lips to me.

The clergyman was very angry and left.

Opposition and Persecution.

Directly it was known that the poor afflicted widow was to be baptized, of course everyone had something to say. “It will be impossible; why she cannot stand. She has never been out of her bed for three years. How can she be taken to the chapel? and in her afflicted condition for her to be immersed in cold water will be sure to kill her,” etc., etc.

I did not wonder that they should thus reason, for she was in a fearful condition of suffering. Once when I shook hands with her, my hand being cold, brought on a shivering fit, in which she continued for some time. After that I always warned my hand before I took hers.

Now was the time for the enemy to work, and most vigilantly did he endeavour to frustrate the counsel and will of God.

Three ladies called upon her, and having expressed their sympathy, said they were very desirous that she should have a change;
and they would arrange for her to be taken to “Northshore”, and stay with them at their house.

The widow replied, “I am very thankful to you for your kindness but I cannot comply with your request. You know that I am going to be baptized; if I suffer myself to be taken to your home, I shall not only be prevented from being baptized, but shall be separated from those Christian people who now visit me for Christ’s sake. How strange that you should only think of this change just now that I am going to declare my love to Christ, for you have seen me as I am now for more than three years; and now you wish to take me away to prevent my obedience to Christ and conscience. I shall go nowhere until I have been baptized, and then I should like to go home to glory.”

During the week two other ladies called upon her. “We are informed,” said the ladies, “that you are going to be baptized.” The widow replied in the affirmative.

Ladies.—Have you counted the cost of such an act?

Widow.—No I have no cost to count: the cost and consequence of my obedience to the Lord’s commands I have nothing to do with— the Lord will see to that. What God in His wisdom commands, it is quite safe for me to obey.

Ladies.—But it will be impossible for you, in your weak state, to be immersed in cold water.

Widow.—Yes; it is quite impossible for me to do so; but that which is impossible with man is possible with the Lord.

Ladies.—Is this your kindness to the Rev. John Bunyan McCure, who has been the means of so much good to you; you may cause him great trouble by wishing him to baptize you; we are quite sure it will cause your death, and then Mr. McCure will be responsible, and will be imprisoned from his wife and children, and the cause of religion reproached, all to gratify this unreasonable desire of yours to be baptized!

Widow.—What a cunning foe the devil is!

She then asked for writing materials, requesting a friend present to steady her hand while she wrote the following indemnity for me, and then said, “There, devil, I have done with you!”

“This is to certify that Mr. John Bunyan McCure, and all parties connected with my baptism, are to be held harmless from any consequences, if any, that may happen to me during the time or after my baptism; and I declare, that in my being baptized, that it is by my own will, uninfluenced by anyone, except the love of Christ which constrains me.”

Another clergyman visited her who had for several years paid her ten guineas out of the widows’ fund; but previously to her receiving the money, he gave her the “Sacrament.” On this occasion she told him that she could not receive it.

Clergyman.—For what reason?

Widow.—Because I believe that the Lord’s Supper is a Church ordinance, and that no unbaptized person can, by the authority of the New Testament, partake of it.

Clergyman.—But you have been baptized.

Widow.—No, Sir; I have been sprinkled, but I have never been baptized according to the Scriptures. I am going to be baptized, then I shall be received into the Church, the same as those we read of in Acts 2, 41, 42, who gladly received the Word, were baptized and added to the Church.

Clergyman.—Then I cannot pay you the ten guineas.

Widow.—I am very sorry for that, sir; but, poor as I am, I dare not violate my conscience. No; not if you were to offer me so many thousands.

Clergyman.—Then are you going to turn your back upon your friends, who have been so kind to you?

Widow.—No, sir; I shall ever gratefully remember the kindness of my friends during the many years of my afflictions; but I hope, sir, that my friends will not turn their backs upon me, because I am going to obey the command of Christ.

He was very angry and left her, but did not leave the poor widow the ten guineas.

The Venture of Faith.

A gentleman called upon her who was a member of an Open
Communion Baptist Church, when the following conversation took place:-

Gentleman.- I understand that you are thinking about being baptized?

Widow.—Yes, I am not only thinking about it, but I am going to be baptized!

Gentleman.—But I fear that you will not be able to endure the exertion consequent on such an undertaking in your weak state.

Widow.—I can do all things through Christ who will strengthen me, weak as I am—and His strength shall be made perfect in my weakness.

Gentleman.—But it is quite unnecessary for you to be baptized;
the Lord who has afflicted you will accept the will for the deed.

Widow.—Where is the scripture that the Lord will take the will for the deed? Is it not recorded in Matt. 7, 21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven”?

Gentleman.—I only wish to inform you that our Church, of which I am a member, is a Baptist Church, and we will admit you without your being baptized.

[Now I had never spoken to her upon the subject of Strict Communion.]

Widow.—By whose authority will you admit me, an unbaptized person, a member of your Church? Not one uncircumcised person was ever admitted into the communion of the children of Israel; and not one unbaptized person was admitted into membership in the days of the apostles’ superintendence over the Churches, they were received on a profession of faith and repentance; after that they were baptized, then added to the Church, continued steadfastly in the
apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayer (Acts 2, 41, 42). And I find that all the Churches, except Open Communion Baptist Churches, contend for a practical Strict Communion; that is, they make baptism a term of admission into their Churches.

The gentleman was silent . The widow continued: You know sir, that you have no authority from the Lord and King of His Church, nor yet from the practice of the Churches of Christ in those days. Your Church is very accommodating: if a person is not willing to enter by the door then you will let him in some other way, and thus help him to reject the counsel of God against himself, not being baptized, the same as did the Pharisees of old (Luke 7, 30).

Gentleman.—But the object of my speaking thus to you is in consideration of your affliction, and the sufferings that it must cause you in your being carried from your bed, and then to be immersed in cold water.

Widow.—I cannot thank you for your consideration of my affliction because it tempts me to sacrifice principle and conscience on the ground of self-pity. If in the way of obedience I am to suffer in my poor body more than I have, let it be so, it will be in the cause of Him who suffered for me.

Immersion, not Sprinkling.

The clergyman who first called upon her called again:—

Clergyman.—I understand that you are going to be baptized?

Widow.—Yes, sir.

Clergyman.—Then it is my duty to inform you, that if you leave the Church of your fathers, and join the Baptists, I shall see those ladies who have been supporting you by their charities that they may do so no longer, for we will not support you in such a course!

Widow.—I hope, sir, that you will not seek to injure me, and try and take away my bread, because I am about to follow the dictates of my conscience in obedience to God’s Word.

Clergyman.—I am going to Botany Bay for a week, if, on my return, I find you are of the same mind I shall certainly do so.

Widow.—Sir, I have been reading the 18th chapter of Luke, respecting the Widow and the Unjust Judge, who came unto him, saying,” Avenge me of mine adversary.” Now sir,if you become an adversary to me, I shall be obliged to cry unto the Lord, who has promised to “maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor,” for Jesus said, “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him? …… I tell you he will avenge
them speedily.”

Clergyman.—How dare you talk to me in this manner?

Widow.—Because you threaten me with persecution and starvation for no other crime than obedience to the command of Christ.

Clergyman.—You have been baptized once, and that is quite sufficient.

Widow.—But my having been sprinkled when a baby was not Christian Baptism according to the New Testament. How can I become a follower of Christ and of those who through faith and patience have inherited the promises, unless I am baptized as they were in water, immersed, buried, as Paul said that he and the Christian Romans were: ‘We are buried with Him (Christ) by baptism into His death.” To walk in their steps I must be baptized as they were.

Clergyman.—I will not hold an argument with you upon the subject, only to inform you what I intend to do in the event of your leaving our Church and going with the Baptists.

Widow.—Sir, I entreat you to take heed what you do against the
poor widow; your breath is in your nostrils. God can take it away, and make your wife a widow.

Clergyman.—I shall return from Botany Bay in a week, and then I’ll let you know what I will do.

The next day he went to the Bay which is only about five miles from my house. He went boating with some friends, the boat was upset, and he was drowned, and brought back to Sydney a lifeless
corpse. Thus the Lord did avenge the poor afflicted widow of her adversary.

A week before her baptism a lady called to see her, and said, “As you have made up your mind to be baptized, I will send you my
carriage that you may be taken to the chapel more easily than you can by a cab,” and thus it was arranged.

“Them that honour me I will honour.”

Lord’s day evening, December 27, 1863. — The chapel was crowded with all kinds of persons, anxious to witness the baptism of the widow. The other candidates, ten in number, had arrived and were ready, but not so the afflicted one. I stood watching in the direction that the carriage should come from, but no carriage could be seen. It was a time of dreadful suspense to me. Presently I saw a cab coming, it drove up with our dear sister. She was carried out, and placed in a large American rocking-chair, and carried into the vestry, and when ready, into the chapel, and placed beside the water. The lady who had promised to send the carriage did not do so, and by that means tried to prevent the will of the Lord being done.

Not having witnessed the ordinance of baptism she desired that she might for once witness the obedience of faith and love to Jesus by those who were about to put on Christ. There she sat reclining in the chair during the service; all eyes were upon her; many believed that she could not survive it, but that she would surely die.

Before I went into the water (Acts 8, 38) I addressed the immense crowd of persons present, and said: “Many of you are here, expecting to witness the death of this dear disciple of Christ, in the act of obedience to Christ her redeeming Lord. Behold her death. She is already dead; dead indeed unto sin. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.’ (Rom. 6, 4; Col. 2, 12). But you expect to witness the death of her poor body; in that you will be disappointed; no harm whatever will befall her; she will be none the worse for honouring the Lord than if she had never left her bed. This night you shall be witness of the power of God sustaining, and the grace of God triumphing over all the impossibilities of the creature. ‘My grace is sufficient for thee’ is the promise of a God who cannot lie. Tonight you will see that Jehovah is a God of truth. It may be that there are protestors here, employed on purpose to oppose the counsel and will of God; I warn you to take heed, lest ye be found fighting against God.” (I had no idea that there were two gentlemen standing close by me who intended publicly to protest and object to my baptizing the poor widow, and to hold me responsible for any consequences of injury or death that might happen to her. While they were listening they trembled and were afraid, and remained silent spectators of the faithfulness of God.) I then walked down into the water, and having baptized ten believers in Jesus—two were my own daughters—our afflicted sister was let down into the water as she reclined in the chair; her weight of course sunk the chair; I then held it back until the water covered her head and body, and thus I immersed her in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Then she was carried into the vestry. The attention and breathless silence of the people was most solemn. I never witnessed anything like it in my life, and I never baptized any one before nor since with greater pleasure and confidence than I did our God-honoured sister.

The next day there was a general inquiry as to the state of her health. To all inquiries she said, “I am none the worse for obeying the Lord.” Glory be to His holy name. He did honour His own faith and His own ordinance, and our afflicted sister experienced that she could do all things through Christ strengthening her. To all who came to see her she spoke the preciousness of Christ to her soul: “I was full of Christ. I was in Christ, and Christ was in me. Oh, I was so
happy, I could have shouted aloud for joy: whilst I was in the water I felt nothing but the love of Christ in my soul.”

When I called upon her thus I found her rejoicing with a joy unspeakable and full of glory. She said to me, “There is one request more that I have to make of the Lord, and that is, that I may go up to His house on Lord’s day next, that I may be received into the Church, and then eat the Lord’s Supper with His baptized disciples, at the Lord’s table.”

On Lord’s day, January 3, 1864, notwithstanding her great suffering of body, she was brought up again to the Lord’s house, as before, and was publicly added to the Church according to Acts 2, 41, 42. Many, when they saw it, said, “It is a miracle,” and were convinced that she had not suffered any harm whatever from her baptism, and were constrained to say, “This is the Lord’s doings, and it is marvellous in our eyes.” Thus this noble witness of the Lord’s faithfulness, by obedience to the Lord’s command, was enabled to “put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

The next week a gentleman called upon her, when the following conversation took place:—

Gentleman.—I understand you have been dipped? Widow.—Oh, sir, I entreat you not to speak disrespectfully of that very solemn ordinance which sets forth the sufferings of Christ. Gentleman.—I do not use that word as a term of reproach.

Widow.—Yes, I have been dipped, immersed, buried with Christ by baptism.

Gentleman.—Did Mr. McCure put you into the water all over?

Widow.—Yes, I tell you that I was buried beneath the water.

Gentleman.—Was the water warm?

Widow.—No, sir; the water was in its natural state, the same as the water in Jordan, in which Christ was baptized.

Gentleman.—Baptized in cold water, and it has not killed you! I never heard of such a thing. What did you do with the large swelling on your side? Mrs. —— told me this morning she was quite sure if the cold water touched it that it would produce sudden death!

Widow.—Tell the lady what I did with it: she knows that I have an elastic covering for it, to keep off the pressure of the clothes; when I was in the vestry I said to the attendant, “Take away the covering from my afflicted parts, they shall also be baptized with water, the same as those parts of my body that are not. I then committed it into
the hands of Jesus, and said, ‘Lord, be Thou its covering, its shield;
into Thy hands I commit it, and all my afflictions.’ Although the suffering parts of my body were covered with cold water, I can assure you that I felt nothing whatever but the love of Christ warming my soul.”

Gentleman.—There must be something Divine in this baptism, it is truly wonderful, and where it will end I know not. At our house it is continually the subject of conversation: at the breakfast table, it is baptism; dinner, tea—the same. The Bible is produced, but instead of disproving it, there it is—immersion! and not one instance can they find of infants and sprinkling. I very much fear that many of our people will become Baptists.
The next day, the lady herself drove up in her carriage. When she stood by the bedside of our dear sister, she said,

Lady.—Is it really true that you have been baptized?

Widow.—Yes, I am thankful to say that it is quite true. I am now like Christ, who was baptized, and also John, who was called the Baptist.

Lady.—Had you not been baptized before you died, you would have been saved.

Widow.—I have not been baptized that I might be saved, but because I am saved.

“No trust in water do I place,

‘Tis but an outward sign;

The great reality is grace,

The fountain, blood divine.”

Lady.—If you had died when you were so very ill two years ago, then you would have gone to heaven, for you know that you were very good; we have always spoken of you as such.

Widow.—Had I have died then in the self-righteous spirit I was then of, I should have gone to hell; for while you and others looked upon me as being holy and righteous, I was in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. The Lord, in saving me, has saved one of the worst of rebels, a rebel against the imputed righteousness of Christ; of all rebels, a self-righteous one is the most dangerous.

The lady burst into tears and said, “O, may the Lord spare your life, that you may teach us the right way.”

From my own knowledge I can say that to very many our afflicted sister was the means of teaching those things concerning the Lord Jesus with all confidence.

Jesus Christ seen to be “Altogether Lovely”.

Three months after this our dear sister became very much worse; her death was expected hourly. I have stood by her bedside for the hour together for three months, expecting every visit would be the last. During the three months she was unable to eat or take anything whatever. How nature was sustained without food appeared to many a doubtful mystery! It was well known that during the day she took nothing, for she was unable to swallow, on account of bronchial affection. There were some base enough to insinuate that she fed during the night. During her trying afflictions I have never seen that scripture so completely fulfilled as in her case (Col. 1, 11), “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.” Oh, how she would speak to those who visited her of the preciousness of Christ; Christ
was all in all to her. Now, the once self-righteous Pharisee could
say—

“Some call Him a Saviour in word;

But mix their own work with His plan,

And think He His help will afford,

When they have done all that they can,

If doings prove rather too light,

A little they own they may fail;

They purpose to make up full weight,

By casting His Name in the scale.”

One day she said to me, “Why you have not told me one thousandth part of the preciousness and glory of Jesus. He is more precious and glorious to me than ever; I can from my heart say of Him, ‘My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. …. His mouth is most sweet; yea he is altogether lovely.
Thus is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem’ ” (Song 5, 10—16).

A lady drove up in a carriage one day, wishing to see her. Our afflicted sister, although very weak, motioned to the lady to listen to her. She could speak only in a whisper. The lady was in full dress and could not go near enough to hear what she had to say. The lady therefore, requested me to listen and tell her what she said. I put my ear to her lips, and found that I was to be the mouth for the widow, who desired to speak to the lady concerning her soul, which she did in the most kind, yet faithful manner. “I fear that you are more anxious for your poor dying body than for your never dying soul.”
She was a very handsome woman, and listened with great attention, and sometimes with tearful eyes, for about half an hour. The lady shook hands with me, and said, “I thank you very much; I shall never forget what I have seen and heard.”

The doctor who attended her said it was impossible for her to live much longer. He told me she could not live another twenty four hours.

“When I am weak, then am I strong.”

To the astonishment of every one who saw her she recovered from the bronchial affection in the throat, and was able to take food, but still suffering as heretofore. It appeared to me, while visiting every day, and witnessing the burden of afflictions upon her, that another burden would crush her—another wave and she must become a total wreck. While alone one day, trying to reach something that was on the chair, she lost her balance, and fell from her bed. She was very much hurt, besides being much bruised, her right instep and ankle were broken. When I saw her she was in great agony; but I never heard her once complain, but, on the contrary, would justify the Lord, and say,”The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” She said to me, “Oh, how kind and gracious is the Lord! He never lays more upon His children than He gives them strength to bear: shoes of iron and brass, and as thy day, such will be His sufficient grace. With Paul I can say, ‘Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.’

I read to her the above narrative, that she might correct any error. Directly I had finished reading it, she said, “What a memory you must have—everything is true. If it should be published, my prayer will be, that the Lord will be pleased to bless it, and bring some of His dear children into the valley of decision.”

Republished by C. J. Farncombe about 1930 from “Life in England and Australia.” (1876).