The Visitor's Book of Texts A VITAL TOOL FOR PASTORAL VISITATION

The pastoral visitation of the sick and sorrowful is a spiritual exercise. Its purpose is to bring God’s Word to those in need in the prayerful hope of the Spirit’s blessing upon it. Such visitation is not the preserve of pastors only; it is the duty of the whole church, as our Lord reminded his disciples with the words, ‘I was sick, and ye visited me’.

How we should visit the sick, and what we should say on our visits to them are the important matters addressed in this most useful book. Written by a spiritual giant of the nineteenth century church, the book contains much-needed advice and clear guidance. Bonar gathers together a great number of Bible verses that will prove eminently suitable for a wide range of individual cases. These selected scriptures are interspersed with the author’s own brief, spiritual, and helpful comments. Here then is a book that should be in the hands of every Christian visitor. It ought to be consulted prayerfully before embarking with God’s Word to the sick and sorrowful.

Publisher: Banner of Truth
Type: paperback
ISBN: 9781848710719

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Andrew Bonar (1810-1892) ministered at Collace in Perthshire, and in Finnieston Free Church, Glasgow. He authored or edited several titles published by the Trust, including The Life of R.M. M'Cheyne, The Letters of Samuel Rutherford, and a commentary on Leviticus in the Geneva series.

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This book has been great blessing to me on pastoral visitations. Usually, before visitations, I will meditate and pray over the various texts and think about the state of the person I am seeing. I especially appreciate how Bonar reminds us that not only is the physical welfare of the person to be considered but also the spiritual state of the person. This aspect of Bonar’s book has kept me alert to issues that may not be readily seen or even spoken of. I recommend this book very highly as a useful tool. In fact, I own four copies, one to give away, one for my office, one for my home, and one for my car. kevin cauley