Now the corn is full in the ear, and fully ripe. With what gladness does he put in the sickle, to gather it home to his garner! This poor earthly solicitude, followed by this joy, is one of our teachers. It shows us something of our Redeemer's feelings in reference to our growth in holiness. Fellow disciple, no eye has watched your progress, your declensions, your recoveries, your conflicts, your fears, your hopes and your efforts, with such interest as he has felt. And now he sees you ripe for heaven. Perhaps a few more suns must shine upon you, a few more rains must fall; he sees something yet not quite complete; but the time is near, it hastens, when you will feel the sickle. Fear it not; you know what hand holds it. It cuts down only the straw. The precious grain is garnered. There may come the sharp-edged sickle, and then the tremendous blow of the flail. That ends your earthly history. The rest dates from heaven. A soul ripened for glory in this field of sin and death! Surely the joy of the harvest thrills through the heavenly mansions.

O ye sowers! be diligent, "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know your labor is not in vain in the Lord!" O ye plants of heaven! growth is your great work. "Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; to virtue, temperance; to temperance, patience; to patience, godliness; to godliness, brotherly kindness; to brotherly kindness, charity; for if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

LECTURE VII.

THE TWO DEBTORS; OR, LOVE TO CHRIST PROPORTIONED TO THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SIN.

LUKE VII. 36-50. "And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at

meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

WE have thus far contemplated the general effects of the Gospel, when it is cordially received into the human heart. A few of those parables will now be selected which lead us to contemplate its more specific effects.

The scene here brought to view should not be confounded with another quite similar, but really distinct from it. The one occurred in Nain; the other in Bethany. This woman cannot have been Mary, the sister of Lazarus; for she would not have been denominated by the Pharisee "a sinner;" either as being a Pagan, or as notoriously vicious. In this case the objection to the anointing comes from the host; in the other, from some of the guests. In this the objection impeaches Jesus; in that, the woman. In this the woman appears not to have been invited, but to have entered uninvited as a spectator, according to a custom still found in the East. In the other case, Mary was a guest. Moreover, Luke alone describes this case; the other is described by Matthew, Mark, and John. Equally without reason has Mary of Magdala been confounded with this person; nor, in fact, is there the slightest foundation for the common opinion, that Mary Magdalene ever anointed the Lord's feet.

The group is before us. There sits the Son of God, the Redeemer of men. On one side of him is embodied the Pharisaic spirit, self-complacent, coldly respectful; on the other, the lowly penitent bringing her costliest thank. offering, and presenting it with a libation of tears. He is wrapped around with the mantle of self-righteousness;

satisfied with his own goodness, dignity, and importance. He indeed invites Christ to a supper; but whatever motive he had, it was not the desire of instruction; for he is already satisfied with his knowledge of the law. Nor has he any peculiar desire to honor Christ, nor any special esteem for him; for, he does not perform even the ordinary Jewish civility of offering water for his feet. He offers no anointing oil, nor kiss of friendship. But this poor sinner at his feet bathes them with her tears, and wipes them with the hairs of her head; she hath kissed them, and anointed them with the most costly unguent.

From all her actions (for we hear not a word from her) we learn that she had strong religious feelings; and from the Pharisee's reflections, as interpreted by the omniscient Redeemer, we learn that he despised her emotions, and this expression of them; and from Christ's treatment of her, we learn that her feelings were approved by him.

Her emotions were penitential grief and religious gratitude. She was a sinner, a transgressor of God's holy law; and she knew and felt it. She had discovered that sin is the evil of evils, and that she was totally under its dominion and under the condemnation it deserves. Sinful pursuits and sinful companions then stood before her awakened conscience, stamped with the marks of Divine reprobation. It sickened her heart to remember the hollow laughter of vicious mirth; the early departures from parental counsels; the wasted years spent in debasing her angelic nature, and in treasuring up stores of remorse and despair for the future. God has been disobeyed, and his righteous commandments have been violated. Guilt rests upon

her, binding the soul in triple fetters; sin possesses the soul like a disease; all is dark and desperate. Existence thus seen is a curse, an intolerable burden. The soul has cast itself beyond the pale of the divine sympathy: perhaps for ever. Well may she weep. But she has still another cause of tears; the tears of joy, of love and gratitude. Somehow she has come to believe what learned Pharisees would not believe, that this being before her is a Saviour, an Almighty Saviour; so holy, that he can make no compromise with any form or degree of sin; yet so compassionate and powerful, that the chief of sinners may fly to his feet, and find there a refuge, sympathy and salvation. This belief brings her there. And she cannot overstate her conviction, her sorrow, her joy, her love and her thankfulness.

But the Pharisee understands nothing of it all. He looks on without wonder, without sympathy, without capacity to comprehend the scene. He reasons, very wisely in his own estimation, that Christ is not a prophet; or, such a person could not thus approach him under any guise. John, the forerunner, had a commission which kept him in great sternness, apart from men. This the Pharisees could understand. But Christ's free manner of mingling with society, living just as others do, so far as they do right, perplexed them; especially his treating men as human beings, not to be despised, but to be benefited, however bad they may be, was a constant scandal to them.

While this man was reasoning with himself, Christ took up his unuttered train of thought, and replied to it; letting him understand that this penitent's expressions of affection were altogether more worthy of a