The interpreters house

Front matter

Shelf.. N43

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

THE INTERPRETER'S HOUSE.

Preface

11 So the other told him, that by that he was gone some distance from the gate, he would come at the house of the Interpreter; at whose door he should knock, and he would show him excellent things. . . . Then went Christian on, till he came to the house of the Interpreter, where he knocked over and over. 77 — Pilgrim 's Progress.

Contents

10. " 2 265

I. Cjje Interpreter's House

THE INTERPRETER'S HOUSE.

"He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto yon." — St. John xvi. 15.

^T is very wonderful how our thoughts (3$ are clothed in words. First we think of a thing in our mind, but no one knows what we are thinking about; then we speak the thought out in words, and people hear us, but if they do not understand our language, they will not know what we are saying. So, then, to understand a person's thoughts, words must be spoken in a language common to both people.

Now this whole question of languages is a very strange one. It is so hard to have one's head full of thoughts, and then not to be able to make other people understand what you mean. I have seen English and American people, away up at the springs of St. Moritz in Switzerland, trying to carry on a conversation with the man at the spring who could only talk Italian and German.

I have stood by and listened, and laughed to myself as I have heard all this talk going on. It sounded just like Chinese pigeon- English.

"Not muchee water to-day."

"Where is my leetle glass?"

"What do you say?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Hey?"

"What does the fellow mean?"

"Bother on the man, why don't he talk English! There now, pump me some more water."

"Where is the bath man?"

"Dear me! Dear me! Hold up! Stop! Stop, I tell you!

" I don't understand a word you say ! "

That is the kind of talk one hears in a foreign country, where people have no language which is common to their minds. Their thoughts are all right, and are clear enough in their heads; the trouble is they want a common language to interpret their thoughts. A great gulf is fixed between people's minds; and though each would tryto get to the other and help them, they are as far apart as the rich man was from Lazarus, or as the people were at the tower of Babel, when the confusion of languages came upon them, and thus because they could not understand each other, they were compelled to leave off building their city.

It is only human beings which have this gift of language. Parrots and jackdaws and ravens- talk; but then they can not carry on a conversation. They don't think over what they say. They talk just what they are taught, as the little finches are taught the notes of certain songs. Here in the bird show in Boston, some time ago, there were a number of these birds which talked wonderfully well. There was one big red Macaw, who would put his head to one side, and seemed to understand what you said, and made some wonderful answers.

But then he swore badly, and talked in French, and sometimes he jabbered away in a language of his own so that no one could understand him.

What we all need then, when we can not understand the thoughts or the words of another, is an interpreter; some one who will tell our thoughts to the other one, and will translate his meaning to us. All the great voyagers and discoverers in the world have had interpreters with them to explain the language of the people on whose shores they landed. Captain John Smith had his interpreters among the Indians in the English colony at Jamestown in Virginia. Sir Walter Raleigh had his interpreters when he was roughing it in North Carolina. Pizarro when he conquered the Inca of Peru, and Cortez when he captured the empire of Mexico, had their interpreters with them, to translate their thoughts in the Spanish language into the language of these South American nations. And Marco Polo and Vasco De Gama and Magellan, the great discoverers, always had their interpreters along with them, so that they might know all about the different countries they were in.

Blind people read and interpret books by the use of raised block letters, by which they feel the shape of the letters, and in this way learn to read with their fingers. Dumb people understand each other's thoughts by the use of their fingers. They have a sign language which interprets their meaning to them. Here in St. Paul's Church once a month there is a service for deaf and dumb people, and the minister conducts the worship by means of signs. He makes all sorts of strange figures and gestures with his hands, and the people, simply by watching him, understand the service.

And then there are some things which are common interpreters to us, though our languages may be different. No matter in what country we may be, and hear foreign languages spoken, it always sounds natural to hear a dog barking in the night, or a cock crowing in the morning. We always know what animals mean by their voices. We always know what a baby means when it cries. Something is going wrong, and, though the mother of the child may be French or German or Italian, we can always interpret the child's cry because the cry reveals the baby's wants. And then too the language of music is a common language. An orchestra might be composed of performers who spoke twenty separate languages, and yet the sheet of music before each player interprets to the man the notes to be played.

And now to come to our subject, we find that the Spirit of God, or God the Holy Ghost, is the great Interpreter of God to us. God the Father is like the hidden thought in the mind. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was called by St. John, the Word of God: He was God's hidden thought of love to us spoken forth or revealed to us, as a word reveals a thought. God the Holy Ghost is the Interpreter both of God the Father and of Jesus Christ the word or revealed thought of God. St. John says of Jesus, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And in our text to-day, Jesus says, speaking of the Holy Spirit, the Interpreter — the one who knows both hearts : the heart of God and the heart of man; the one who knows both languages : the language of heaven and the language of earth — u He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you." This means that the Holy Spirit will be like an interpreter who understands both languages. He will explain God to us and will explain our thoughts and words and wishes to God.

For instance, here is a violin. It is a wonderful instrument, and the most beautiful music can be brought out of it. And here is a sheet of difficult music. Here is a flute, and there is a harp, and on the musicstand there is some written music. Suppose now, three of us who don't know one note from another, should try to play these instruments. One of us draws the bow across the violin, another one blows the flute, and a third strums away on the harp. We make noises, but we don't make music. We don't know how to read the music, and so we can not interpret the violin and flute and harp. We can not make them tell us any thing. But here comes Ole Bull, or Eemenyi, the great violinists, with a flute-player and a harpist. They make the most beautiful music, where we were only making dreadful noises before. They can read the notes; they take of the things of the great musical composers and show them unto us. They translate those black notes to us and tell us what they mean.

Or let us take another case. Perhaps you have heard of the story of William Tell, the Swiss patriot. Some people say there never was such a man ; but I believe there must have been some such hero in Switzerland, for the place is filled with stories about him. Well, the Austrians under the cruel tyrant Gessler had conquered the Swiss. William

Tell lived on the beautiful lake of Lucerne, the lake of the four cantons, as it is called, with Mount Rigi and Mount Pilate looking down on the lake, with all those beautiful mountains around them. The spirit of liberty was in those mountains, and the Swiss peasants could not help trying to be free. Bonfires were lighted on the mountain-peaks, to call the clans together, and William Tell shot Gessler the tyrant, as he was trying to capture him again, after his escape from the boat, at that spot on the lake where Tell's Chapel now stands. Then Arnold of Unterwalden, and Fiirst of Uri, and Stauffacher of Schwytz, bound their three cantons together in a solemn league and covenant; and at last, after a series of wars lasting one hundred and fifty years, the Austrians were driven out and Switzerland became free, and for a long time was the only republic in Europe!

Children, what made those sturdy peasants free? Why would they not be slaves? It was because the spirit of liberty was in those rugged Alpine mountains. The eagles were free, and the wild chamois, or mountain goats, were free, and the people who lived in such a free country never could become slaves. The spirit of liberty which nestled on those snowy heights, took of the things of liberty and showed them to the Swiss. The air was free, the mountains were free, the wild birds were free, and all this freedom was translated or explained every day, by the sights and sounds around them to these Swiss patriots. Nature was their teacher, or interpreter.

And in this same way the Spirit of God is our great Teacher and Interpreter. He explains God's truths to us, as the violinist explains the sheet of music, or as the mountains taught the Swiss liberty. He takes of the things of God and shows them or explains them to us.

In the story of " Pilgrim's Progress," which gives us the name to these series of sermons, after Christian had entered in at the wicket-gate, and was well started on his way to the

Celestial City, he came to the Interpreter's .House. The Interpreter lighted a candle and began to show him all the wonderful things in his house. It was just like a museum. You must read all about it for yourselves in your own copy of " Pilgrim's Progress." Here he saw a man sweeping and making a great dust, and he saw two little children named Patience and Passion, and a man in an iron cage, and another man buckling on his armor, and fighting his way through a crowd of persons who were opposing him. And then, too, in the second part of the story, when Christiana came along with Mercy and the boys, following in the steps of Christian her husband, the party stopped at the Interpreter's House and saw many things which were wonderful, — such as the man with the muck-rake, and the Tigly black spider, and the hen and chickens which called to each other, and the butcher killing the sheep, and the pretty robin eating a spider, and the garden with the flowers and trees in it.

What John Bunyan meant to teach byall this part of his story was simply this, — That the Interpreters House came next after the wicket-gate in the Christian life; or, in other words, that after we were started right for heaven, we must be taught by the Spirit of God. And that is why he represented the Interpreter as going about and explaining all these curiosities to the pilgrims. He meant to show us that the Holy Spirit must be our teacher or interpreter. He must explain God's things to us, as our Lord had said, "He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you."

Every school is like the Interpreter's House. There we learn all about the things of this life, and gain the knowledge which is necessary to carry us along on our journey. Our teachers, if they are true teachers, are interpreters. They explain history and geography and chemistry, and show us all sorts of experiments in philosophy. They ought not merely to stuff us with bits of knowledge on purpose to hear us repeat these same things by rote, as the German birdfanciers teach their finches to sing bits of song. I was struck with this the other day when I was travelling in the cars. I was reading from time to time in some papers and magazines which I had with me, when I was amused by hearing the conversation of my fellow travellers in the seat next to me. A tall, thin, maiden lady, about sixtyfive years old, had charge of a timid little girl of eight years, and was evidently taking her away to improve her mind on a vacation. The little girl had a doll and a picture book, neither of which she was allowed to play with.

"Now, Amanda," said her elderly teacher, "put away that trifling picture book and enjoy , the beauties of the scenery. Now you must have your mind improved. That is why I am going with you."

"But I want to read," replied Amanda.

"No, Amanda," said her care-taker, "you shall not read. I am going with you to improve your mind. Your mind must be improved; you must have a profitable time. Observe that lovely view in the foreground — a fine old farm-house. What does foreground mean? Don't you know? I am surprised. Foreground means the view nearest to us. Then see that beautiful lake. What is a lake, Amanda ? Can't you define a lake ? A body of what ? "

"Water," said Amanda.

"Yes," replied her teacher, "a body of water entirely surrounded by land. You see the land goes entirely around it."

"That's only a pond," observed Amanda.

"Never mind, child," replied the elderly care-taker, " a pond and a lake are the same thing; a pond is only a little lake. Now, Amanda," she continued, "look at that fertile valley in the distance with the succulent corn and the granular wheat. Succulent means juicy, and granular indicates the grain-like nature of the wheat field. How can you want to play with your doll while passing through such scenery? Why will you not use your eyes, Amanda? What were your eyes given to you for ? See that farmer with his cart. No doubt he is going to the mill. What is a mill, Amanda? What? do not know what a mill is? Why this is too bad ! I wonder you are not ashamed of yourself. I think it is high time some one took you in hand to try and improve your mind. Are you not glad you are going away with me to have a good time?"

And poor Amanda looked any thing but glad.

Now, my dear children, that woman was no true interpreter or teacher. That ride in the cars would never bring poor little Amanda to the Interpreter's House, that true school, full of curiosities and delights and fresh wonders, such as the Interpreter showed to the weary pilgrims, when they knocked at its portals over and over again "and saw there many excellent things." That teacher couldn't translate the pond and the mill and the farmer's cart to poor little Amanda. She couldn't take of the things around her and show them to the little girl. She didn't know how to get at the child's heart. Amanda's world and Amanda's language were a world and a language she did not know and could not explain or translate.

Now, then, how does the Spirit of God teach us? How is it that the Holy Spirit is the true Interpreter between our souls and God?

I answer, — the Spirit of God, the Holy- Spirit, is the true Interpreter —

Because Tie translates Gods thoughts to us.

God is holy, and he lives in eternity, not in time as we do. The prophet Isaiah says in one place, "Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit." This means that though God is in heaven and we upon earth, that he, nevertheless, can be taken in by us and can be said to dwell in our minds, as a lesson in history or a rule in grammar can be said to inhabit our minds, when once we have learned them. God dwells in heaven, among the stars and the angels, and with worlds and living beings about him, which we never, never can take in. Go out on some clear night and look up at the vault of heaven: see the stars and the systems and the planets and the milky way. They are all worlds, and are Ho doubt teeming with life. God has made them. God has revealed himself to his children in them; God is in them as he is here in this world and life of ours. But how could we know that the God who made these worlds is the same God who gave us the Bible and sent to us his Son Jesus Christ, — the word of God, the manifestation of God's thoughts, — unless the Spirit of God inspired men of God to write the Bible, and inspired us with faith and hope and zeal to believe? The poet Cowper says in that hymn we all know, —

"Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan his work in vain ; God is his own interpreter, And he will make it plain."

There are some things which we do naturally, and there are other things which we must learn to do. We walk, we eat, we sleep naturally. But we do not play the piano, or know spelling or arithmetic naturally. We have to learn these things, and the truly great man is the man who is learning all the time.

One time when he was in the Coliseum wandering about, Cardinal Farnese discovered the great genius, Michael Angelo, walking alone amid the ruins.

"Why," said the cardinal, "what are you doing, Angelo ? I have watched you here for nearly an hour studying out these ruins. What need have you to study?"

" Why, I go to school all the time, that I may continue to learn," was the great architect's reply.

And so it ought to be with us in learning about God. Some things we know naturally about him ; but in order to know the truth about God's will, and what he wants of us, we have to go to the Bible, and pray for God's Spirit to teach us its true meaning. When we want to know any thing well, we must give ourselves up to learn; we must put our minds upon it, and we must have a competent teacher to instruct us.

A good many years ago, there was a wonderful story written about slave life in the South. You may have heard of it or read it. It is called u Uncle Tom's Cabin." There was a thoughtless, rattle-brained little slave girl described in it called Topsy. One Sunday afternoon, Miss Ophelia, her mistress, had her come up into the parlor to say her catechism. Topsy had a good memory and had learned to say her catechism very rapidly, without stopping to think about the meaning of the words, just as a jackdaw or a parrot learns the sentences repeated to them. Miss Ophelia took no pains to instruct Topsy in the meaning of the words, and so Topsy, after saying, u Our first parents fell from the state wherein they were created," continued, u I say, Miss Ophelia, was dat ar state Kentuck?"

"What state, Topsy?" replied Miss Ophelia.

u Why, dat ar state they fell out," replied the little slave. "I used to hear massa say we all come from the state of Kentuck ! "

Miss Ophelia wasn't a true interpreter or teacher to poor little Topsy. She did not realize Topsy's ignorance, and therefore she could not translate rightly the truths of the Bible to her. She could not take of the things of God, and show them to the poor little slave, who thought the word state always meant the state of Kentucky.

I remember a little boy in Sunday school, who told his teacher that he understood every thing about the resurrection, excepting one thing.

"What is that?" asked his teacher.

"Why," replied the little fellow, "I don't see how the Koman soldiers made that seal stay on the tomb."

You know St. Matthew tells us that the soldiers "made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch " ; and the boy thought they put a seal or sea-lion on the tomb to guard it. He had just seen a seal at an aquarium. The word " seal " didn't translate his thought of what a seal was.

There are a great many truths in the Bible which we do not realize when we are young, but which all come out to us as true when we grow older. You know there is such a thing as chemical writing on certain kinds of paper which can not be seen in the sunlight; but when you bring it near the fire, and the papef becomes warm, then the red writing all comes out to the light. I have made this chemical writing many a time with a chemical box I had when I was a boy. And in this same way God writes his truths in our hearts, and by and by, when we get out in the heat of life, with its cares and trials and temptations, God's writing comes out to the light. The Spirit of God interprets the truths of God to us. He takes of the things of God and shows them unto us.

I wonder how many of you children have read Sir Walter Scott's " Tales of a Grandfather," with all those stories of Scottish history? I remember reading them and wondering about Bruce and Douglas and the Bed Comyn and Holyrood Palace and Stirling Castle. But when I went to Scotland and saw all these places, then the places explained the events, and interpreted or explained the history to me.

And just so it is, my dear children, with the truth of God as it is revealed to us in the Bible. As we grow older in life, and get near to the trials and difficulties and temptations described to us in the word of God, we feel the truthfulness of the Bible, as it tells us about God and heaven and our way of escape from sin. And this is the first thing the Holy Spirit does, — he explains God and the truth of God to us.

The Interpreter's House. 33 II.

And then, secondly, the Holy Spirit is the true Interpreter between our souls and God, because he translates our needs to God.

In the history of ancient Eome, there is a story about the wars of the Sabines with the Eomans. The Sabines, who lived near Eome, came once upon a time to try and conquer it; but they could not get into the city. The Eomans defended the walls and towers and barricaded all the gates, so that there was no such thing as getting in. At last some of the Sabine officers saw a Eoman maiden named Tarpeia on one of the towers. She was the daughter of the Eoman general who was defending that part of the city. Tarpeia was very much delighted with the bracelets which the Sabine officers wore on their arms and wanted them to give her some. The Sabines told Tarpeia that they would give her as many bracelets as she wanted, if she would only unlock the gate and let them in ; so that night she stole the key from under her father s pillow, and unlocked the gate of the tower. And then the Sabines rushed in, and threw so many heavy brass bracelets upon her, that she died in the gateway. But the Sabines never could have conquered Eome, if there had not been some one inside to unlock the gates.

And in this same way, my dear children, it is the Spirit of God within us which unlocks the gates of the soul and lets the truth of God come in and conquer us. That is why preaching and teaching does good. It isn't all power from outside; there is something inside which opens the heart and lets the truth come in. We want to be saved from sin; we want to get to heaven; we have remorse and sorrow for our sins; we have a conscience within us which is like an alarm bell, and tells us when we have done wrong and when we have done right. When we are in sorrow, or when we have done wrong, then we want to feel that God will help us, and will forgive us, and it is the Holy Spirit, the Interpreter of our hearts, who puts these feelings there. Our Lord called the Holy Spirit the Comforter and the Inspirer. He translates our language and interprets our hearts to God.

At the period of the French Eevolution, when hundreds of innocent people were beheaded by that cruel instrument the guillotine, there were ever so many people called the Girondists shut up in the Bastile, that horrible dungeon in Paris. Every little while a French officer would come in, and read off a list of victims who were to be marched out and put in carts or tumbrels, as they were called. Then they would be driven off to the scaffold like sheep in a butcher's wagon. Whenever one of these officers would enter the dungeon, the poor people would shudder, for fear their names would be called next. Now, suppose some philosopher or wise man had entered that dungeon, along with the officer of execution, and had said, "My friends, I have come here to explain some difficult problems in algebra and geometry, please give me your attention," — would those poor condemned victims care to hear that man talk about algebra? No, indeed. There would be nothing within their hearts to respond to his lecture on geometry. That lecture would not interpret their feelings. But now suppose, instead of this professor of mathematics, an apostle of Jesus Christ, St. Paul, or St. John, or some true Christian disciple had gone in to those wretched prisoners and said, " Listen to me, my friends. I have come to tell you how you can pass right up from the bloody scaffold to God your Father in heaven. I have come to tell you how you may have life and may have it more abundantly," — would not that language be something they would understand and care for? That man would interpret the wishes and longings of their hearts. It would be something that concerned them to know. He would take of the things of God and would show them unto those poor condemned souls.

It is always a comfort and a pleasure to be told things beforehand, which will save us trouble and give us help. Here in Boston, from my study window, as I look over the Public Garden and the Common, I can see very frequently the red storm-flag, with the big black ball on it, flying from the Equitable Tower on Milk Street. Sometimes I have thought to myself, "I am sure this doesn't look like a storm coming. I wonder if 'Old Probabilities' hasn't made a mistake." But as the day wears on, and as the clouds gather, and the snow comes down or the rain falls, I think of the sea captains in the harbor who must be so glad to know about the weather beforehand, and who have not sailed yet, but are snugly anchored this side of Minot's Light.

And this is just what the Spirit of God does to our souls. He reproves or convinces the world of sin and of judgment. He tells us of the storms which will come if we do not heed his voice, and if we will sail our ships just as we think best. He is indeed the Interpreter of our own hearts and of the evils and dangers which surround our way. He is the great warner of our souls.

And these are the two reasons why the Spirit of God is the true Interpreter or Teacher of our souls, — He translates God's thoughts to us, and he reveals our souls to God.

Remember, then, these two lessons, my dear children, and pray to God the Holy Spirit to help you to do God's will, and to understand his word, and to put into your minds good desires.

There was a young man at Cambridge, who said to a fellow student about to study for the ministry, —