and which is the gift of God,' (Eph. ii. 8;) bestowed freely, without money, and without price,' (Isa. lv. 1,) upon poor, needy, helpless sinners. This, my friends, is the distinguishing property of grace; all is freely, fully bestowed; merit has nothing to do with it. When the

Lord saw neither of his debtors could pay him, he forgave them both; thus, our position is exactly described. You and I, and every one, are in the place of these debtors; some of us to a much larger amount than others, inasmuch as we have had more talents, more blessings, greater advantages than others; but when the payment is to be made, where are we? Alas! all-all insolvent debtors; we have nothing to pay. And what would befal us, were our divine Creditor to press the debt? but he sees our emptiness, our poverty, and frankly forgives all. Here is proof of man's total helplessness, of his inability to do anything towards his own salvation, and of the freedom and fulness of the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ. The debt must be paid, but he has paid it; the demands of justice must be satisfied, but he has done so. Consequently, insolvency on the part of the sinner is no preventive to pardon, for all who feel their need may apply to the throne of grace, and find their wants supplied out of their Redeemer's fulness. Oh! my friends, live up to your privileges, and honour your Saviour by going to him in prayer, beseeching him to look upon you, and give you of his tried gold, while he clothes you with the white robe of his righteousness, and enables you to see the blessings and mercies he has in store for you. (Look at Rev. iii. 18.) Now let us hear him apply his gracious, beautiful parable to the self-righteous Pharisee.

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.' (Verses 44—48.) 'And he turned to the woman;' this expression is rendered plain by our recollecting what I said before, that in the East people did not sit on chairs, as we do, but

reclined on couches; consequently, the woman stood behind him; and when he wished to draw the attention of Simon to her, and apply his parable, he turned to her, and said, 'Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet.'

"What did our Lord mean by this charge of neglect, sir?" said Hyford.

"The shoes worn in the East," replied Mr. C"were merely sandals, or like the soles of our shoes, tied on the foot with a band; consequently, the dust that was upon the skin was most disagreeable, and rendered it necessary for the health and comfort of the traveller to wash as soon as he arrived at his journey's end. It was generally the first thing done to a guest by the servants, and our Lord, in the chapter we are considering, reproaches Simon for his want of courtesy and common attention. But far more acceptable than all the water that could have been presented, were the tears of this poor penitent; the invitations of mercy that she had heard, convinced her of his gracious readiness to save; and the more she was oppressed with a sense of sin, the more her soul melted at the thoughts of pardoning love."

"Sir, I well understand this," said the farmer, with much emotion 1; "the greater our debt, the greater our gratitude for seeing it crossed out of the creditor's books; This poor woman's thankfulness was shown by her tears. Men do not cry like women, but their hearts, when touched by God's grace, are as soft, and they, too, feel the value of redeeming love to an extent they often have not words to express. I sometimes am so happy and overjoyed," added the old man, "that I hardly know how to contain myself, and my soul seems ready to leap out of its tenement of clay." "Then you have no doubts, Mr. Hyford, to cast you down," said Mr. Lawrence.

"Doubts, sir, doubts?" replied Hyford. "Why should I doubt ? Doubts dishonour our dear Lord; he has promised never to cast out those who come to him,' (John vi. 37,) never to leave them or forsake them,' (Heb. xiii. 5,) and I believe him, for he is Truth itself, and cannot lie; so I have scattered my doubts to the winds long ago, and I promise you, I never intend picking them up again." "Happy old man!" whispered Mrs. Basil, "I wish we were all more like him."

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'I have another remark to make," observed Mr. C"with regard to the woman we are speaking of. After she

1

had washed her Lord's feet with her tears she wiped them with the hairs of her head. You, my friends," added the pastor, turning to the side of the room occupied by the farmers, “may recollect what I said on the subject of hair when I endeavoured to make you comprehend that all such productions are the type of natural righteousness, or more properly speaking, of those amiable dispositions and feelings which all persons possess, either more or less; hence we learn from this action of this poor weeping penitent, that she cast herself as totally helpless and naked at her Saviour's feet, disclaiming any righteousness, any goodness of her own, and came to Jesus to receive that comfort and pardon which she felt he could bestow. Our gracious Lord understood all this, for the inmost recesses of the heart are well known to him, wherefore, turning to her, he said, "Thy sins are forgiven.' (Verse 48.) Oh, happy woman, thus to receive pardon from her Judge! thus to be assured that all was well! Surely, the state of her soul was enviable, and which only a pardoned sinner can comprehend; he, too, can rejoice when the Spirit bears witness with his spirit that he is washed, and justified, and sanctified, making it as evident to the conscience as if he had heard it declared even as this woman did. And now tell me what was it that produced this wonderful, happy change in her ? Was it her tears-her anointing-her humility? No, none.of them; in the fiftieth verse we are told that it was her faith. Jesus said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.' Learn, then, my dear friends, that salvation lies not in anything man can do. How I wish I could impress this great truth more upon your minds! The natural, unconverted heart is continually looking inwards, and with complacent self-sufficiency exclaims, 'What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' (Matt. xix. 16;) but where the Lord the Spirit has obtained possession, there self is dethroned. True faith brings nothing to recommend itself, for it feels it has nothing; sensible of its wants, it comes to Jesus empty handed in order to be supplied out of his fulness; it is aware that its tears, its repentance, are not worth his acceptance, and that if the Almighty Father adopts the creature into his family, receiving him as his child, and bestowing upon him suitable privileges and favours, it is entirely of his free grace and boundless mercy in Christ Jesus, who alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

"We must go back a verse, sir," said Mr. Basil;

"will you tell us how you understand the forty-seventh verse ?"

"With pleasure," replied the pastor. "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.' After enumerating the offices of love she had tendered to him, and of which Simon had been so deficient, he silenced his pharisaic pride effectually by adding, that her sins, with all their numerous aggravations, were entirely pardoned; and as the consequence of such unlooked for, unbounded goodness, she would be filled with love for the rest of her life to the triune Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for remember it is written, 'We love him, because he FIRST loved us.' And again, 'In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' (1 John iv. 9, 10.) This is the great leading doctrine of the Bible; salvation is founded on the love of God to his sinful creatures, and was arranged in the abodes of glory before the worlds were called into existence; Jesus, therefore, was the promised One, for in him is contained a ratification of all the promises which commenced as soon as Adam fell, and were the delight and consolation of the Old Testament believers, who, though they had only seen them in the distance, as it were; were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and were willing to become strangers and pilgrims here below, for the sake of that better country they so earnestly desired.' And here," said Mr. C- , as he closed his book, "we complete this interesting history. Who this woman was, is not certainly known. Some think it was Mary Magdalene; perhaps so; that she was a citizen of Nain is evident, and is a circumstance that appears to have been overlooked; but our Lord does not appear to have quitted the place where he had bestowed such a blessing on the widow; on the contrary, continued there some days, for he received a deputation from John the Baptist, who was in prison, and performed many deeds of healing to convince the men whom he sent that he was in truth the long-expected Messiah.

R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.