I told you last week that Theodore’s father, lying weak in his prison bed, was willing to listen to a portion of the Bible each day.
Little by little he grew stronger in body, and after a good many weeks, he was able to get up and sit by the window. Here happy Theodore would sit by his side and sing some of the hymns that he had learned from Claude. “Dear Father and Mother, how happy we would all be if you only knew and trusted the Lord Jesus.”
When Theodore was finished reading his Bible, he always placed it within reach of his father, and he was pleased to see him reading it more and more each day, Sometimes too, the tears would run down the Marquis’ cheeks, and then, Theodore would silently pray still more earnestly for him.
At last one day, the Marquis said to his boy, “Theodore, I believe that to have peace with God is the greatest of all blessings. Had I all the wealth I once owned, I would gladly give it to be at peace with God. But I fear that I have sinned too much to be forgiven, I have blasphemed God and persecuted His people, and I can only feel that God must be my enemy.”
“No, Father, God is not your enemy, His love to you is so great that He gave His only and well-beloved Son to die for sinners. And He has promised, ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,’” Isaiah 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18).
The tears flowed down those once-proud cheeks, and the Marquis knelt and poured out his heart to the God against whom he had sinned. He owned the wickedness of his ways, and thanked God for the gift of His Son, the Lord Jesus. For a long time he remained on his knees, and at the same time his dear boy also was on his knees, thanking God for answering his many prayers.
Presently, the father arose and went over to his boy, and kissed him warmly. “My dear Theodore,” he said brokenly, “you have been the means, under God, of bringing your poor sinful father to the knowledge of salvation through Christ Jesus.” Father and son wept together for joy.
And now what a change might have been seen in this once proud and insolent man. lie was humble and gentle and patient, accepting the punishment he was enduring without a murmur, as from the hand of a gracious God.
You are now wondering what happened to Theodore’s mother. It was a long time before she too bowed her stubborn heart and will. But you may be sure that father and son joined often in prayer that she too might know the joy that comes from trusting in the Lord Jesus. At last their prayers were answered and she too, through the work of the Holy Spirit, acknowledged herself a helpless sinner and bowed and accepted the Saviour of sinners.
Four years passed away, and the little family lived on in their prison in the forest. Then came a terrible sickness called smallpox. Theodore and his father both took sick and never recovered. They died trusting in the Lord Jesus as Saviour, and went home to be with Him. What a joy for those poor prisoners to find themselves free again, and in the presence of the Lord Jesus!
The Marchioness was let free shortly after, and she went to live with Claude and Maria, and there told them of Theodore’s faithfulness to his Saviour. They were sorry to hear that he had passed away, but happy to hear that he had remained true to the Lord. Jesus, and that he had spoken to, and won, his own father and mother for Jesus.
And now my little story is ended, and I will add just one thing more. Have you, like Theodore and his father and mother, bowed your own sinful heart in the presence of God and owned just what you are, and how helpless you are? Will you do this right now, and accept the Lord Jesus, God’s own beloved Son, who died for sinners?
ML 04/22/1951