MARY; OR, THE POWER OF PENITENCE..

BY THE REV. JAMES SMITH.

"Seest thou this woman ?"-Luke vii. 44.

Whether this woman was the same as Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, or not, is a question which we shall not stay to discuss, as it does not affect our subject. This woman was a sinner, an open sinner. One who had violated the laws of decorum, as well as the law of God. She is condemned and despised. Many are more ready to condemn than to pity; to despise than to endeavour to reclaim. We forget when we look at the profane, that we have the seeds of profanity in our hearts. That human nature is essentially the same in all, but that education, circumstances, the providence or grace of God, makes the difference between us and the vilest. We are all one man's sons. We were hewn out of the same rock, we were dug out of the same pit. Humbling consideration this. Nature in me is the same as in the harlot, the drunkard, the murderer; and if left to myself I might have been as depraved as they. While I condemn sin, let me ever pity the sinner. While I mourn over the fallen, let me ask the question so well put by the apostle, "Who made thee to differ from others?" Am I vile? let me take the blame and the shame to myself. Am I reclaimed? let grace have all the glory and praise.

But this woman, this great sinner, was a penitent. She had heard the gospel, and she believed it. It brought good news and glad tidings to her soul. It pointed to an open door by which she might escape from her degradation and desert. It informed her that there was love in God's heart for sinners, for great sinners, for the foulest transgressors. That God had devised a way by which sin could be condemned, and the sinner be forgiven. Pardon, the possibility of pardon, was sweet to her soul. Pardon, the certainty of pardon, was music in her ears. Pardon, and a free pardon, just met her case. That God loved sinners, was news indeed. That God had sent his Son to save sinners, was glad tidings of great joy. She heard, she pondered, she believed, and she was changed. Her views of God's nature and character were changed. Her views of herself and her conduct were changed. Her eyes were opened, light from heaven shone upon her understanding, new ideas took possession of her soul, and she felt a new, a strange, an inward convulsion. Sin appeared in its true colours. She saw that it not only degraded humanity, but insulted and dishonoured God. She perceived that she had not only sinned against God's holiness, as revealed in his law, but against his love, as exhibited in the gospel. She regretted that she had pursued such a course. inwardly grieved that she had offended such a God. She was sorry, heartily sorry, that she had ever sinned. Her sorrow was deep. She mourned alone. She wept in secret. She confessed her transgressions. She pleaded for mercy. The greatness of her sin would have driven her to despair, but the infinite greatness of God's love generated hope in her soul. The more she reflected on her conduct, the deeper were her convictions; and the more she believed in the good news, the deeper was her compunction. She could not despair, for God had sent his own Son to be a Saviour; she could not but mourn and weep, because she had so fearfully sinned against so good and gracious a God. While she listened to the great Teacher, the work was deepened in her soul; and as she looked at him through her tears, the tenderest sensations were awakened, the deepest emotions were produced. She drank in his words, as the thirsty earth drinketh in the rain, or the exhausted traveller the sparkling

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draught from the flowing spring. She followed him wherever she could. She heard him whenever she had an opportunity. She hung upon his lips, like the bee hangs on the fragrant flower, or like the limpet to the rock. As cold water to the thirsty soul, so to her were the good news from a far country.

One day, to her surprise, she saw him go into a Pharisee's house. She knew that for her there was no welcome there. But she longed to be with him. She thirsted to listen to him. She watched him in. She saw the cold reception he met with. No flowing cup was put into his hand. No water was prepared for his feet. No kiss was printed on his cheek. No fragrant unction was poured on his head. This broke her heart, to see her Saviour treated thus. She hastened home, for there she had an alabaster box of very precious ointment. She enters the Pharisee's house, regardless of the contempt with which she might be treated. She went behind the couch on which he was reclining. Her broken heart made weeping easy, and tears in plenty flowed. She let her tears fall on his feet, and washed them thus. She wiped them with her tresses, once her pride and glory. She kissed his feet, as she had never kissed man's cheek. Oh, the tender feelings which were awakened, as she toiled and he taught! She breaks, her box, and pours its contents on his feet. It was her best, if not her all. Love prompted her, and love in her rejoiced, as she felt that she had honoured him, her dear, dear Lord.

She is a true penitent, and in her penitence there was power. Produced by the holy and ever blessed Spirit of God, through the instrumentality of the word of grace, it proved its nature and its origin by its effects. It changed the whole current of her feelings. Once she loved sin, and enjoyed it; now she hates it, and it is the cause of her bitterest grief. Once she pursued pleasure in the pathway of death; now no place is like the feet of Jesus, no music like his voice and words. Her present tears were sweeter than her former joys. Her love was now fixed on her Saviour's person, and sought to express itself by honouring him in every possible way. She was fired with zeal for his glory, and could brave the persecuting sneer, the contemptuous frown, of the Pharisees for his sake. Patiently could she endure any insults that might be offered her, for nothing could drive her from his feet. Powerful must be that principle that could bring such a character into such a place, under such circumstances, and produce such effects. Love and grief wrought together in her heart, and while she mourned for sin, she rejoiced in her Saviour. Such repentance is divine. It proves that a new principle has been imparted, a new nature has been produced, and a new course has been commenced. A course which has the Holy Spirit for its guide, the Scriptures for its rule, and the glory of God for its end. A course unknown to the world, and essentially different from that of mere formal professors. A course which has grace for its origin, holiness for its characteristic, and heaven for its end. Religion, without repentance, is a delusion. Repentance, without power, is a mere fancy. Power, that does not bring to the feet of Jesus, make us mourn over sin, and lead us to consecrate our best to his service, is not the power of God unto salvation, or the power that Mary felt. Reader, "Seest thou this woman?" Were you ever like her? Have you been convinced of sin ? Have you fled to the Saviour? Have you sat at his feet? Have you wept under a sense of his undeserved love? Have you given him your best, and wished it were ten thousand times better, that you might bestow it on him?

Powerful penitence is always pleasant to the eyes of Jesus, and it is precious to his heart. It attracted his attention, and drew forth his vindication. He delivered a sweet and instructive parable, teaching that

great sinners, when pardoned, manifest great love. They bring great honour to Jesus, and pour out a full heart in tears over the feet of Jesus. Poor Mary, she had contracted a heavy debt, and when she felt in herself that all was forgiven her, she loved much. There was a depth, a power, a tenderness in her love, of which Simon knew nothing. The more vivid our sense of pardon, the deeper our penitence, and the more powerful our love. A question is proposed, in answering which Simon justifies Mary, and furnishes an excuse for her conduct. O Saviour! how prudently didst thou deal, and how wisely didst thou confute and confound cavillers. O Jesus! how great thy kindness to sinners, especially to broken-hearted sinners weeping at thy feet. Oh, may I have Mary's feelings, and Mary's place! Oh, that I could weep as Mary wept, and love as Mary loved! Jesus commends her. Blessed Immanuel! thy commendation is commendation indeed. Surely the tears of Mary flowed faster now than before! Surely her bosom swelled with gratitude and love, and her heart conceived praises too vast for the lips to utter! How did she admire thy words, thy Spirit, thy generous heart, thy glorious person! O Jesus, how wonderful it is, that with thy word before us, thy grace within us, and thy goodness sparkling all around us, we do not love thee more! What a reward is bestowed on weeping Mary! What a testimony is borne ! "Her sins, which are many, are all forgiven." A present pardon. A full pardon. A free pardon. An everlasting pardon of all her sins pronounced. She stands acquitted of all sin before God. She is guiltless as an angel of light. Mystery of mercy this! Wondrous grace, that can justify the ungodly, and turn the greatest sinners into glorious saints! Mary was forgiven through believing. She believed that Jesus was the Son of God, the Sent One, the Saviour. She believed what Jesus said. She received him. She looked for salvation to him. Her faith saved her. It brought nothing to Jesus, but it received everything from Jesus. It deserved nothing, but it was the divinely-appointed means of obtaining pardon, peace, and everlasting life. Simple faith brings the guilty sinner to Jesus for pardon,-the troubled sinner she brings for peace, the lost sinner she brings to be saved,-and the empty sinner she brings to be filled with all the fulness of God. Mary's faith brought her to Jesus, obtained from Jesus, and wrought by love to Jesus. Have we such faith? Cold assents will not do this. Merely crediting divine statements will not do this. Oh, no; but the faith of God's elect, the faith of the operation of God, always does so. The faith that does not bring us to Christ, obtain a pardon from Christ, and break our hearts in penitence at the feet of Christ, will not save us. But the end crowns the whole. Jesus says, "Go in peace." Fear not, Mary, though men misunderstand you,— though men look with contempt upon you,-though men even reproach your Saviour for his kindness to you," Go in peace." Go, tell of the joy you feel. Go, tell of the blessing you have received. Go, tell of the prospect before you. Go, and

"Tell to sinners round,

What a dear Saviour you have found."

Go, and peacefully perform your domestic duties; go, and peacefully enjoy your religious privileges; go, and peacefully spend the days allotted you below; and then peacefully depart to be with your Saviour for ever. Reader,-Faith is the root of penitence. There is no godly sorrow for sin, until there is faith in Christ. While you are under the law, look at God through the law, or seek to be saved by obeying the law, you will find it impossible to repent. The law worketh wrath, and you will find that it will harden your hearts, stir up hard thoughts of God, and lead you to self-pity, despondency, and despair. Faith looks to God as a God

of love; looks to Jesus as an able and willing Saviour; seeks and obtains pardon at his hands; melts the heart under a sense of his unutterable love; and produces contrition, compunction, and repentance unto life. If there is no penitence, there is no faith; and if there is no faith, there is no spiritual life; and if there is no spiritual life, the wrath of God abideth on us. Penitence always deepens at the feet of Jesus. You can never produce repentance by trying to do so, or by complaining of the want of it. No man can force himself to repent. But faith in Jesus, and fellowship with Jesus, will naturally, easily, and invariably produce penitence. Take thy hard, impenitent heart to Jesus, he will soften, break, and melt it; and as the rock in the desert flowed with water when Moses smote it, so will your rocky heart flow with streams of penitence and godly sorrow. The feet of Jesus is the place for every guilty Mary, for every complaining sinner; and, blessed be his holy name, there is room for all such there, and there is always room. Jesus, who would not have this poor woman driven from him in the Pharisee's house, will not allow any one to drive a seeking sinner from him now. The tears of penitence sparkle in the Saviour's eyes. Every one of them reflects his image as he looks upon it. So highly does he prize them, that he puts them into his bottle, as if they were costly perfume; he enters the number of them in his book, as if they were valuable gems or pearls. Jesus has an inventory of his saints' tears. The streaming eye, the swollen cheek, and the groaning heart, when sin is the cause, always find favour in his sight. Those who weep for sin at the Saviour's feet, shall never be condemned at the bar of justice. No matter who may accuse, Jesus will advocate their cause. Let who will condemn, Jesus will pardon. Let who will try to trouble, Jesus will say, Go in peace." Blessed, blessed Jesus, thy feet shall be my place, and thy favour the object of my pursuit! "Should worlds conspire to drive me thence,

Cheltenham.

Moveless and firm this heart shall lie;
Resolved, for that's my last defence,

If I must perish, there to die.

But I'm secure beneath thy shade,
And all my foes shall lose their aim:
Hosannah to my dying Lord,

And my best honour to his name."

THE DUTY OF SUBMISSION.

BY THE REV. A. ARTHUR.

"Be still, and know that I am God."-Psalm xlvi. 10.

The atheistical tendency of the human heart has been made manifest in all ages of time. The native element in which men live is that of being "without God in the world." They have aspired to be like unto gods themselves, and acted as though they were their own proprietors, had a right to walk according to the imaginations of their hearts, and were accountable to themselves alone. All the recorded dealings of Jehovah with mankind, the revelations of his character and will on successive generations, and the dispensations of his Providence, are designed to teach the very reverse. We are invited in this Psalm to come and behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth." There is no such thing as "desolations in the earth" without his permission and operation,-no such thing as the abandonment of the world to the blind and uncertain guidance of its laws, or to the disposal of merely created agents. While man looks only to what obtrudes itself

on his senses, to what he sees, or can find out to be the immediate instrumental cause of changes, disease, and death, we are here directed to the Unseen the almighty and supreme Ruler-and enjoined to cultivate sentiments corresponding with his divine character and sovereignty. "Be still, and know that I am God."

I. Let us think of the import of the divine declaration, "Know that . I am God." These words imply that He alone, in distinction from all other beings, "whose name is Jehovah," is the "Most High over all the earth." He only possesses the attributes involved in being God-infinite power, and wisdom, and goodness, and truth; whose presence fills immensity; the all-sufficient and comprehensive good of those who love him in every part of creation; He who governs all things; "who does what He wills in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth." It is further to be observed, that these words, "I am God," were affirmed of Him who is styled in the preceding part of the Psalm, Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Jacob,--the refuge and strength of his people,who is "in the midst" of his church, and "shall help her right early."

To know that he is God, is to have a thorough and influential conviction of this truth, founded on the evidence he has given of it in his Word. In the whole of his interpositions in behalf of Israel-the displays of Divine power, and the deliverances He wrought for them-He verified this saying, "I am God, and besides me there is no other;" hence the language of Jethro: "And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods; for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them" (Exodus xviii. 9-11). When, too, in the degenerate days of Elijah the prophet, the people were seduced and bowed the knee to Baal, a remarkable demonstration was given of the same truth. No answer was returned to the loud cries of the prophets of Baal. But we read in 1 Kings xviii. 39, the wondrous manifestation of the God of Israel: "And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, The Lord (or Jehovah), he is the God; Jehovah, he is the God." In like manner, when the proud king of Assyria reproached the living God, and vaunting of his creature power, presumed to say that none could deliver out of his hands, we find good Hezekiah making supplication thus: "Now, therefore, O Lord God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only" (2 Kings xix. 19). The whole chapter is full of sentiments replete with grandeur and sublimity, vindicating the supremacy of Israel's God, shewing the utter feebleness of all other powers when they contend with him, and the final entire overthrow of Sennacherib and his hosts.

Know then that Jehovah, he is God. He has made us, and not we ourselves. He still rules over all, giving the kingdoms of this world to whomsoever he will, and renders them subservient to his own govern ment and glory. Let us, then, behold the divine, presiding, and overruling hand in the tumults of nations, in the deposing and exalting of kings, in the mighty earthquakes which shake the states of this world, and the revolutions that ensue. How solemn and dignified is the language of this inspired Psalm: "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted" (verse 6). The conflict of human passions kindles the flame of discontent, and leads to desolating changes. But He utters his voice, and all fall into obedience to his sovereign will.