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MARY; OR, THE POWER OF PENI.

TENCE.

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

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One who

WHETHER this woman was the same as Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, or not, is a a question which we shall not stay to discuss, as it does not affect our subject. man was a sinner, an open sinner. had violated the laws of decorum, as well as the law of God. She is condemned and des. pised. 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 another ?" Am I vile ? let me take the blame and the shame to myself. Am I reclaimed ? let grace have all the glory and praise.

That

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. God loved sinners, was news indeed. 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 underderstanding, 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

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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. She inwardly grieved that she had offended such a God. She was sorry, hearti ly 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 gener ated hope in her soul. The more she reflected on her conduct, the deeper were her con victions; and the more she believed in the good news, the deeper was her compunction. She could not despair, 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 emo tions were produced. She drank in his words, as the thirsty earth drinketh in the rain, or the exhausted traveller the sparkling draught from the flowing spring. She followed him wherever she could. She heard him when. ever 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. It broke her heart, to see her Saviour treated thus. She hastened home, for there she had an alabaster box of very precious ointment. She entered 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 I 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 characterestic, and heaven for its end. Religion, without repentance, is a delusion. Repentance,

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