Chapter XVIII: The Father's House

"AFTER that I did not answer, but I lay and thought. Of course I knew all about the life and death of Christ; indeed, I know it so well that it had become like an old story to me. I had never doubted that Christ gave His life to save the world, but this man seemed to single me out as if it had been only for me that the great sacrifice was made.

"Then there came back to me the words I had heard read in the church, and how I had felt myself to be the prodigal son who had wandered far away from the Father's house.

"I was too weak to think it all out, but this much I knew and understood, that I had sinned against Heaven and in God's sight; and now here was another great fact, heard from the lips of the man who had taken me, a needy stranger, into his own house: 'The dear Lord came down from heaven and gave His life on the cross for you.' If it was true I was a great sinner, it was true also that there was a great Saviour.

"From that day, I began to improve rapidly. The young doctor came to see me regularly, and Sath Guru Dàs never seemed to weary of attending to me.

"I used to look at that man and wonder what made him so different to other men. I could see that he had not had much education, for it was with difficulty that he could spell out the words of his Bible, which he seemed to love to read. Another thing I noticed was that he seemed to do nothing without praying about it first; I got to know that when he went away and left me, as he did sometimes quite suddenly, it was that he might go into a little room alone and pray. And so I began to understand that this man, who in himself was neither clever, nor great, nor better than others, possessed a wonderful power, because he lived his life with God and in constant touch with Him.

"One day I overheard him as he was praying say,—

"'O Lord, reveal Thyself unto this poor, sad heart, that he may know what a Saviour he has in Thee, and let him go away from here to live a new life in Thy strength.'

"I cannot tell you how it touched me to hear this stranger praying for me so earnestly, and my own heart said,—

"'O Lord, reveal Thyself to me.'

"I believe that was the first time I had ever 'really' prayed.

"I found that my new friend was a colporteur, and as soon as I was well enough to be left, he began to go his rounds with his books to sell.

"One evening he said to me, 'Brother, do you feel well enough to read a little? I am but a poor reader myself, but I love to be read to.'

"Of course I said I was quite willing, and asked what I should read.

"He brought me a New Testament in Hindi, and pointing to Luke xv. said, 'Will you read that, brother?'

"I felt quite startled when I saw what it was. It seemed almost as if he must have known what had been in my mind during those days.

"I began to read, but as I read on, it became more and more difficult. The words almost seemed to choke me, and my voice trembled again and again.

"As I read the sentence 'He arose and came to his father,' Sath Guru Dàs suddenly put his hand on mine, and said in a voice almost of entreaty, 'Brother, will you?'

"I was wholly taken by surprise. What did this stranger know about me, that he should understand that I was like the son in the far-off country? It was true that 'I' knew, but how should 'he?'

"I determined then that I would hide nothing from this true friend, who had done so much to save my life, and was now praying for my salvation. So I said, 'Brother, I will tell you all, and you shall judge whether I am fit to be received into the Father's house.'

"He answered, 'Brother, it is not a question of your fitness, but of the Father's love; but tell me all.'

"Then I told him the story of my life, and you may be sure that I did not try to make myself out any better than I was.

"When I finished, he said, 'Brother, one thing I am quite sure of—that you are just the very one the Lord Jesus spoke of when He said, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to find that which was lost." You are so altogether lost that none but He "could" find you. He has followed you into the "far country," and now, don't you hear His voice calling you home to the Father's house?'

"I could not deny his words. Surely it was nothing less than a divine hand which had been leading me on step by step till I stood at the very threshold of God's kingdom.

"I could not turn back, and so I arose and came to my Father.

"I need not tell you that I was not turned away; that, as I had seen I was like the son in the parable, so I found that the loving, forgiving father who ran and fell on his son's neck and kissed him was a picture of God Himself.

"I found, too, that the son wandering in the far-off country, ragged and hungry and weary, was just a new man altogether when he came into the father's house and was clothed and fed and loved. It was indeed true 'old things had passed away, and all things had become new.'"

"Thank God!" said Mary earnestly as she listened to her husband's words. And then, after a pause, she asked, "And did you find out who your friend was, and why he had been so good to you, a stranger?"

"There was not much to find out," was the answer. "He was only a poor ignorant man, as this world would call him, who had only been a Christian for a few years, but I feel sure he is a prince in God's kingdom, and will have a seat very near his Master in the coming glory. It was for the love of that same Master, he took me in and served me so faithfully. And when I expressed my wonder at his goodness to me, he only said, 'Brother, it was for the dear Lord's sake. What am I here in this world for unless it be to do His work? It is what He himself would have done, only far more; and what right have we to be called by His name if we do not follow in His steps?'

"The next day he said to me, 'Brother, what are you going to do now?'

"I had not made any plans or thought what I would do; indeed, my heart was so full of joy and thanksgiving that my sins had been forgiven and I received by the Father, that I had not thought much of earthly things. But my friend's words made me think, and of course I knew that I could not continue where and as I was.

"So we talked things over, and as I shrank from coming back to be a burden to you, we decided that I should wait a few days and gain a little more strength, for I was still very weak. What astonished me very much was to see the joy of both Sath Guru Dàs and the young doctor over the change which had been wrought in me. If their own brother had been raised from the dead, I do not think they could have been more glad.

"But I must not tell you any more, for mine has been a long story; and now tell me yours."

So Mary told what had befallen her, which we already know. And as she finished, her husband exclaimed, "Now I see it all as plain as daylight; you were praying hard, in the dark, as it were, not even knowing whether I was dead or alive, and God was listening and answering, and leading me step by step on the path which was to bring me home to Himself."

Then together the husband and wife afresh prayed for forgiveness for all the sins of the past, especially for the great sin of forgetting Him who had so manifested His love for them. Together they gave thanks for the great salvation which had become theirs, and gave themselves anew to be His for ever who had endured the cross for their sakes.

Jesus Looked round about upon all Things.

AFTER the Lord had been brought in triumph into Jerusalem, and after the multitudes had done crying out, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" Jesus entered into the Temple. And it tells us in the Gospel of Mark that "He looked round about upon all things."

Now it seems to me, children, that this is what we should think the Lord Jesus is doing now.

He comes into the temple of our hearts, or He comes into our homes, into every room that we live in, and He looks round about upon all things.

What does He see?

Here in this picture of the Temple of God, when He was upon earth, He saw many things which He did not like at all.

The people who had offerings to bring to God, had got careless about the holiness of God's House, and they began to buy and sell the offerings within the Temple. The people bargained and cheated, and bought and sold, without thinking that God was dwelling there, and that His House was not to be made into a market.

Then some people wanted their money changed, and so tables were set up where the money was spread out, and those who were buying went to them to get change to pay for their purchases.

At length, things got to such a pass that the Jews even kept their oxen and sheep inside the Temple to be ready to be bought by those who wished to make God an offering for their sins.

Think what confusion, and dirt, and disorder must have been all about.

So the Lord Jesus was very grieved, and the next day, He came and turned them all out, and told the Jews that God's Temple was meant to be a House of Prayer, but that they had made it a den of thieves.

Now, before we finish this little story, I want us to look into our hearts and just think what the Lord Jesus sees there, when He comes and looks round about upon all things.

What does He see? Does He see a heart with lots of naughty things in it? A heart which does not mind telling an untruth? A heart that would not mind cheating in a game? A heart which does not mind thinking a naughty thought, or doing a naughty act?

Oh, if He can see any of those things in the temple of our hearts, let us ask Him to turn them all out, and make it clean and fit for Him to visit and stay in.

Perhaps, instead of that sad list of things, Jesus can see a heart that loves Him.

Perhaps He can see a heart that goes, every time it gets soiled by sin, to His precious cleansing blood to be washed white.

If He does, then Jesus is glad to look into that loving, washed heart, and He says, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a humble and contrite heart, to revive the heart of the contrite ones, and to revive the spirit of the humble."

This is what Jesus will do for you, and for me.

HIRA'S QUEST.