ST. JOHN XIV. 2 79
again, the penitent whose sins were as scarlet, but are now white as snow ; who wandered far from his Father's house, and felt the raighty famine, and almost perished with hunger, but at last — at last came to himself; and arose and came to his Father, and was welcomed with a warmth he had never dared to expect, and now in one of those "many mansions" yearns that others too may return while yet there is time ? Yes ! and there must be " places of abiding " where those who knew God but dimly learn to know Him more ; where the poor and the neglected marvel at the breadth and depth of the gospel; where the children who died in infancy marvel at the blessedness of their elders who came out of great tribulation, and wonder what was that strange earth which has been the scene of so many tears, and so much repentance; where those who in early boyhood have slept in Jesus can see that the call was a summons of love, and that the blow which well-nigh broke the hearts of parents, and saddened the musings of companions, saved them from perils unsuspected, and kept them safe in Christ's arms.^
(1) There is variety of Eace. — The Father's house is ample enough in its great hospitality to receive all God's children from far and near. In it there are many abodes, many dwelling- places ; within its hospitable shelter there will be room for saints of all ages and types and beliefs, of all nations and kindreds and tongues. They shall come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven.
(2) There is variety of Disposition. — Was there ever a little company of men more diverse in disposition than the Twelve ? That little company who followed Christ would almost seem to be the world in miniature. Thomas was there, the man of melancholy, who haunted the dim margins of despair. Peter was there, with his big and generous heart, swift to act, equally swift to speak. Philip was there, practical and cautious; and Simon Zelotes, a fiery insurgent. And John was there, with a mighty heart on fire, and ready to call down fire on the Samaritans, and yet even already, under the grace of Christ, taming its passion into the flame of love. Would there be room in heaven for all these, so diverse and so different from each other ? If they quarrelled as they journeyed to Jerusalem, would the New Jerusalem hold them all in peace ? We can picture
^H. M. Butler, in Sunday Magazine, 1880, p. 308.
8o THE HOUSE OF MANY MANSIONS
Jesus at the table, smiling upon that strangely assorted company, and saying to them, "Let not your heart be troubled: in my Father's house are many mansions."
^ There was an article in a religious weekly the other day, suggested by the recent death of Mark Twain. The article was headed, A Zand of No Laughter ? In other words, as the writer put it further on, " Can we find a place for laughter in heaven, or is it a land of no laughter ? " The point is that it could be put in that way at all.^
(3) There is variety of Experience. — There are those who have often doubted their acceptance and forgiveness, who have walked in darkness and with difficulty stayed themselves on God, questioning whether they might not in the end be castaways ; and it stands inscribed, " Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven thee." There are those who have felt the want of- the likeness they should bear to God, and of the love and gratitude which should bestow it on them. They take home to themselves the reproach, " Their spot is not the spot of his children : is not he thy Father that hath bought thee ? " For them it is written, " Ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings." " And they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads." There are those who have felt all through life as if God were tm*ned to be their enemy, and were fighting against them. Their desires have been thwarted, their hearts pierced through and through with losses and crosses and cruel wounds, and failure upon failure has followed their plans. But it is written, " Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth " ; and under it, " All things work together for good to them that love God." And there are those who have yearnings of heart to feel God's presence close and constant, to hear Him and speak with Him, and be sure He is not, as some would say to them, a voice or a vision or a dream of their fond imagination. They have felt it at times so certain that they could say, " The Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom shall I be afraid ? " But clouds roll in on the assurance, and the voice seems far off or silent, as if it were among the trees of the garden ; and it is toward evening, and there is doubt and fear. But it shall be " as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even