The Penitent Sinner

And he said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? — Luke, vii 44.

What affords pleasure to the angels of God? Tliej have intercourse with our world, and know what is passing among men. They see the fields of battle; the revolutions of empires; the discoveries of philosophers; the improvemonts in arts and sciences; the extension of commerce; the civilizations of savage life. What among all these transactions and events yields them pleasure? It is, The conversion of a Soul.

This answer will not gratify the hero, the politician, the scholar, the merchant. It will surprise the “men of the world, who have their portion in this life;” and who only ask, “What shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be clothed?” But we are assured by the lips of everlasting truth, that “there is joy in the presence of the angels of Grod over one sinner that repenteth.”

From this declaration, two things undeniably result, in the minds of all who believe it. The one is, The disinterested Benevolence of these Heavenly Beings. Though they are the elder branches of the family, and have kept their first estate, yet, instead of repining at the return and reception of their younger brethren, they rejoice to see the prodigals restored, and placed in a state even superior to their own.

The other is, The Importance of Repentance. Little can be inferred from the censure or praise of men, or from the grief or joy of mortals. “We are often agitated by trifles; we are full of ignorance, and are governed by prejudice; we call evil good, and good evil; we put darkness for light, and light for darkness. But it is otherwise with the angels of God. They are proverbial for their knowledge; no ignorance deludes, no prejudice warps them. They “always behold the face of our Father who is in heaven.” They are perfect beings; and their judgment is always according to truth.

And do they rejoice over one sinner that repenteth? Then there is no subject more momentous and interesting than repentance. Then there is no subject more worthy of the attention of preachers, or the self-examination of hearers. Then we need not wonder that we find so many calls to it, and so many instances of it, recorded in the Scriptures.

To one of these instances, and a very striking one, your thoughts are now summoned.

Thus reads the whole relation: — “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, who 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 who 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 who 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.”

I address each of you in the language of our Saviour to Simon, “Seest thou this woman?” You say. Yes. But do you observe her? Do you study her character and history f Do you study her character and history, so as to apply them to the purposes of spiritual instruction and improvement f

Let us consider,

I. What we may see in the character of this

WOMAN,

II. What we may learn from her history.

We are to inquire,

I. What may we see in the character of this woman?

We see in her — a Sinner. We see in her — a Reclaimed Sinner. We see in her — a Pardoned Sinner.

First, We see in her a Sinner. So she is expressly called: “a woman who was a Sinner.” We are all sinners. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” But it is not in this general sense that the term is here employed by the sacred historian. Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened, was a sinner; but though she was not a believer, she was virtuous before her conversion, and as a proselyte “worshipped God.” But this woman was infamous. Perhaps she had at first yielded to her own depraved dispositions, and gone voluntarily astray. Perhaps she had been originally drawn aside by some rich villain, some flattering hypocrite, some “child of the devil,” who was “a liar and a murderer from the beginning.”

However this may be, we ought never to speak of such characters in the way of extenuation. They are guilty even in the outset; for they have sense and reason; and they cannot be ignorant that everything dear and valuable is sacrificed with the surrender of virtue.

But who can think, without horror and execration, of progress and perseverance in such a course of vice? Surely if there were any remains of principle, the individual would rather die, than live in the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death, trading in iniquity, constantly endeavoring to ensnare, and seduce, and destroy.

The Scripture, therefore, does not speak of such characters as pitiable, but as criminal; not as imposed upon, but as deceiving; not as corrupt, but as corrupters. “And I find more bitter than death, the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.” “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.” We know this woman before us was guilty in no small degree. Our Saviour’s comparison supposes her to owe “five hundred pence;” und he pronounces her sins to have been “many,” though “forgiven.”

Secondly Wc see in her a .Redaivied Sinner. In every subject of divine grace, a change takes place, which explains and verifies the promise; “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut oflP.” Many talk much of the grace of God, but the best way to magnify this grace is to show what it has done for us, and what it has done in us; for the Scripture lays it down as a truth that admits of no exception, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” And if you ask, wherein does this change appear in the character before us? it is answered;

It appears in her Courage.

It requires courage in a man, not only to forsake favorite sins, to pluck out a right eye, and to cut off a right hand; but to risk the displeasure of friends; to brave the reproach of singularity and preciseness; to endure the scourge of the tongue; to make a kind of public profession of his former follies; and to take shame to himself before the eyes of those who will treat his conduct as weakness or hypocrisy. Hence, men who have been bold in a bad cause, have often been timid in a good one. They have been open in sin, and reserved in duty. They have gloried in their shame, and have been ashamed of their glory. We read of some who believed in our Lord, but feared to confess him, “lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Even Nicodemus, to avoid notice, “came to him by night.”

But see this woman. She goes and exposes herself before a large company. She goes alone. She goes uninvited. She is liable to be censured as an intruder, to be condemned as a disturber of the festive scene. She knew that the vileness of her former character would render her peculiarly obnoxious. She knew that she was going to the house of a Pharisee, who would think his very dwelling polluted by her entrance. She knew that the company would probably look upon her with disdain and contempt; and not fail, under her present appearance of devotion, to brand her with her former life. But none of these things move her.

After all, do you wonder at her confidence; and, while allowing for a difference in the manners of the age and country, do you find it difficult to account for her conduct? Remember the force of divine truth, when it enters the conscience; and remember also that the grace of God, while it enlightens the understanding to perceive the importance of eternal things, blinds us to carnal reasons, upon a thousand difficulties which self-love would oppose at our entrance into a religious life; and that there are acts of piety, as there are strokes bf genius, which must be felt rather than coldly criticised.

It appears in her Humility.

For in the day of conviction, “the proud looks are humbled, the lofty looks are laid low, and the Lord alone is exalted.” Though determined to accomjolish her purpose, whatever difficulties opposed her design, she does it in a way which proves that her zeal is not pride and vainglory. She wishes to attract the notice of none but the Saviour, and seems to shrink from the very attention she longs to awaken. “How can I look him in the face?” She, therefore, comes” behind hvmr

Do you remember nothing like this in your own feelings, when a sense of sin urged you to the Friend of sinners? The poor Pilgrim, when she came to the door which she wished above all things to enter, trembled as she knocked; she knocked softly, not from a want of earnestness, but a sense of meanness and guilt; and then drew aside, as if afraid of the admission she sought. When Peter saw the Saviour’s glory displayed, in the miracle of the fishes, he exclaimed, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” This was not the language of aversion, but of conscious unworthiness, rendered the more deep and humbling by the display of his glory and power.

This woman does not aspire to be a guest; she deems it enough to assume the place and office of a menial handmaiden, to wash his feet. And thus the prodigal is satisfied with the thought of the lowest station he could occupy, provided it be in his father’s house, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am not worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.”

It appears in her Contrition.

I’hc heart of stone is turned to flesh. She weeps; weeps bitterly; weeps abundantly. And truly, there is enough in sin to make a transgressor mourn. It lias “brought death into the world, and all our woe.” It has turned the earth into a vale of tears; gendered the worm that never dies, and kindled the fire that never shall be quenched. It exposes us to the wrath to come, and prepares us for fellowship with the devil and his angels.

But what says the prophet? “They shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.” And what made this woman pour forth such a flood of tears? Did they only, or principally, flow from a sense of her danger? Many are only affected with the evil of sin in the misery it incurs. If they are grieved, it is not that they are polluted, but that they are punishable; not that they have acted a vile part, but a destructive one.

But this is not the “godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation; and needeth not to be repented of.” The true penitent sees that his sin is folly and madness, ingratitude and treachery. He sees that he has transgressed, not only times without number, but a law that is holy, and just, and good. He sees that he has offended a Being infinitely worthy of all his regards. He sees that this Being, even while he was rebelliog against him, was loading him with benefits; and is, even now, after all his provocations, waiting to be gracious, and exalted to have mercy upon him. Then his heart dissolves; then he wishes that his head were waters, and his eyes a fountain of tears; and, sorrowing after a godly sort, he manifests the fulfilment of the divine promise, “I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: that thou majest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.”

It appears in her Attachment.

She washes his feet with her tears; she wipes them with the hairs of her head; she embraces them; and anoints them with a costly perfume. Judas kissed our Lord, but it was in order to betray him. Many “draw nigh unto him with their mouth, and honor him with their lips, while theii’ heart is far from him.” But where the heart is given, nothing will be withheld, however dear or valued. This woman, therefore, employs her best ornament to honor him; she sacrifices the precious perfume which she had purchased to expend upon her own person; relinquishiog the claims of vanity for the duties of devotion; thinking nothing of herself, but only of her Saviour; and esteeming nothing too precious to sacrifice in the meanest service for him..

It appears in her Faith.

Many would have overlooked this, but our Saviour sees and remarks it. He well knew that faith was the ground of her application; that it was the source of her courage, her humility, her sorrow, and her affection’. These were only fruits; faith was the root that bore them. She hoped that he would receive her. She believed that “with the Lord there was mercy, and with him plenteous redemption.” She had a confidence that, unworthy as she was, he

would “in nowise cast her out.” He, therefore, ‘’ said unto her, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”

Thirdly We see in her a Pardoned Sinner.

When David looked around to find a happy man, he does not say, blessed is he whose grounds bring forth plentifully; blessed is the man who governs nations with a nod; blessed is the man that strides from victory to victory; blessed is the man who is admired for genius and science. To many of these claims and distinctions he was himself no stranger; he was a musician, and a poet, and a hero, and a king; but the insufficiency of all these he deplored; and he prayed, “Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.”

But he exclaims, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” He has the true notion of blessedness; and he has the reality. The whole of his happiness is insured; the whole of it is begun. He is blessed in his duties; blessed in his comforts; blessed in his trials. To him affliction has no curse; death has no sting; eternity has no terrors.

Such was the privilege of this woman; and two things enhance it.

It was a, present blessing. It was not said, “Her sins, which are many, shall ‘be forgiven:” but “are forgiven.”

It was, also, an assured benefit. Our safety depends upon our state; our consolation is much influenced by our knowledge. Not a few of the people of

God go mourning all their days for want of the “full assurance of hope.” But this woman is not left for a moment in uncertainty. “He said to the woman, Thj’ sins are forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace.”

We do not envy her the distinguished privilege with which she was favored. But 0 Saviour, we long to share in the same blessedness. We long to be able to praise thee, as the health of ow?- countenance, and ow portion forever. Through many a benighted hour have we been waiting for thee, “more than they that watch for the morning.” Scatter the doubts and fears that have enveloped and dismayed us, and “say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”

Let us inquire.

II. What may we learn from the history op

THIS “WOMAN?

First We learn from it the Disposition of Pharisees.

How well does our Saviour describe them, when he speaks of “certain, who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”

How well did he exemplify, and contrast, and condemn their temper, when he said, “Two men went up into the temple to pray”; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself; God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell yon, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased: and he that hnmbleth himself shall be exalted.” How often did these self-justiciaries murmur, as a reproach to the Saviour himself, “This. man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” So here: “When the Pharisee who 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.” Here is censure without consideration. Here is judginent without mercy. Here is exclusion without hope. A sinner, even upon his return, is to be cut off, even from the means of grace, and forbidden all intercourse with the preacher of righteousness! “Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great; and let us not fall into the hand of man!”

Secondly, We learn from it the Condescension and Kindness of the Saviour.

Power may cause its possessors to be feared; wealth, to be envied; learning, to be admired; and beauty, to be flattered; but it is genuine goodness alone that can gain the heart.” “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die,” But ^■hee are vv’e now, and what do we see in the Lord Jesus? Even his giving to this man his company S3rves to display a little of his character; and to rectify the mistake of some of his followers. The Pharisees were his bitterest enemies. They did not even allow his mission as a prophet. Simon, therefore, asks him to his house, only to gratify his friends and acquaintances, or to indulge his own curiosity, or to gain reputation by having so extraordinary an individual to be his guest. Yet our Saviour, though he knew this, accepts the invitation; for “he went about doing good;” not only embracing, but seeking and sanctifying all opportunities of diffusing instruction, pleasure, and profit.

But see the benign attention he pays to this woman, and the kind defence he makes in her behalf Had she touched Simon, he would have “been filled with horror, and have exclaimed, “Stand by thyself, come not near me, I am holier than thou.” This is what he wishes our Saviour to have done. But he is mistaken in his character; he is perfectly ignorant of the being he entertains.

It had been said, long before, in prophecy, “Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips.” “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth.” “He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” Who embodied these representations? He who “saw the multitude, and had compassion uj)on them, because they were as sheep having no shepherd.” He who said, “Com.e unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He who said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost,” He who said to the woman taken in adultery, and turned over by her merciless fellow-sinners to his judgment, “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.” He who, in a voice softer than the breath of heaven, said to this woman, “Thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace.”

Thirdly, We learn from it, that we should consider none of our fellmv-creatures as entirely abandoned.

While there is life, there is hope:

And while the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return.

We grant that there are some for whom we feel, and ought to feel great alarm. There are some who seem to have sinned away everything like conscience; and to have gone such lengths in wickedness, that only a divine arm can reach them.. But let us remember there is such an arm. And what this arm can do is not left for conjecture to determine. We can appeal to facts. We know what it can do, from what it has done; for with him “there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning:” “his hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.”

Think of this, ye parents, who, after all your prayers, and efforts, and tears, fee your children walking the downward road. Think of this, ye ministers, who, after preaching for twenty years, see no religious movement among many of your gospel-hardened hearers. “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” How often, at the admission of members, has a church exclaimed, “Who hath begotten me these? These, where have they been?”

But, you say, such a character is so unlikely. What! more unlikely than Manasseh, that son of a pious father, who had withstood all the influences of a good education; who had become an idolater, a necromancer, a bloody murderer? Yet, “in his affliction, he sought the Lord God of his fathers, and he was found of him.” Had you seen Saul of Tarsus at the stoning of Stephen, holding the raiment of them that slew him, and afterwards haling men and women to prison, how little could you have expected to see him a disciple, a preacher, an apostle, a martyr. “I was,” says he, “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy. For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them who shall hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”

Fourthly We learn from it, that no distressed conscience should despair.

This article is distinguishable from the former. That was designed to keep us from relaxing in our endeavors to save others; this is intended to prevent all discouraging conclusions with regard to ourselves.

I know, that fear follows guilt. I know that when you think of returning to God, conscience may forebode his rejecting you. It requires “strong consolation” to bear up the mind under a. sense of numberless and heinous transgressions, and to enter the presence of him whom we have so often and so dreadfully provoked. But there is “strong consolation” for those that are “fleeing for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before them.” “As I live,” said the Lord, by the prophet Ezekiel, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” And he says it here, “See what manner of sinners my mercy can forgive, and my grace restore.” “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

May his goodness lead you to repentance. May the exceeding riches of his grace encourage your application to him. 0 guard against despair. The gate of life stands open, but despair shuts it, locks it, and throws the key into the bottomless pit. Despair, by making us believe that means are useless, keeps us from using them; and thus oar recovery is rendered impossible, because deemed unattainable. Hope is the source of all exertion. Hope melts me. Hope draws me, draws me to his feet. —

Should worlds conspire to drive me thence, Moveless and firm this heart shall lie;

Resolved, for that’s my last defence,
If 1 must perish, there to die.

Finally, We learn from it that our Gratitude will he influenced by a sense of our obligations.

This our Saviour brings Simon to acknowledge. “There was a certain creditor who 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,” By this principle he accounts for the indifference of the Pharisee, and the zeal of the 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,” Not meaning that her love was the cause of the pardon, but the consequence. As if he had said, “She would not have felt such ardor, and displayed such devotedness, had she not been sensible how much she was indebted to my goodness,” “But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little,” A slight acknowledgment will be deemed sufficient for a trifling fovor.

Why arc many so cold and lifeless in their regards to the Redeemer of Sinners? They are hardly convinced that they are sinners. In reality there are no little offenders. But many suppose their offences to be small, especially when they compare themselves with viler characters. Now in proportion as we view ourselves to be innocent, shall we feel our need of divine grace diminished. If we imagine we can make any amends to the law we have transgressed, by our repentance and reformation, so much we shall detract from the obligation we are under to the atoning sacrifice of Christ, If we can establish a righteousness of our own, we shall not submit ourselves to the righteousness which is of God; nor, of course, be thankful for its provision and imputation. “The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick;” and they who feel themselves most attached to him, and who think they can never say enough in his praise, are not those whom he has saved from an ordinary pain or infirmity, but those who have been rescued by him from the most desperate malady, and from the jaws of death.

Here, then, we see of what importance it is to entertain proper views of the fall, of the evil of sin, of the depravity of our nature, and of the misery we have deserved. These views are often* censured as gloomy and injurious; but it would be easy to prove not only how true they are, but how important they are, even on a practical account, both to awaken the conscience to seek pardon, and also to excite to gratitude and obedience when it is attained.

It must be admitted that there are degrees in sin. Our Saviour compares some sins to motes, and others to beams; some to gnats, and others to camels. He here allows that one contracts a larger debt than another; and represents Ihat he who has had a debt of five hundred pence remitted, should feel more than the man who has had a debt of fifty pence. He who has been the greatest sinner should be the greatest saint.

But here I would remark two things.

First, The greatest sinners are not always the grossest. Sin is to be judged of by its aggravations; and its aggravations arise from the convictions and cautions, the means and motives which we have neglected and contemned. Perhaps some of the guiltiest individuals in our world are those who are decent in their conduct, but have enjoyed all the means of grace from their infancy, and yet have been insensible under them; who have constantly worshipped God, but have mocked him with a solemn sound upon a thoughtless tongue; who have heard the words of eternal life, and trampled them under foot.

Secondly, All those who are taught of God see enough in themselves to make them admire the freeness and fulness of that grace which has saved them. They have seen only the lives of others; but as to themselves, they have looked into their own hearts, and have found them to be “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” They- cannot judge the motives of others, but they have examined their own. They knoAV not what excuses others may be able to plead, while they- acknowledge that they have no cloak for their sin. They compare themselves with .that, law, the spirituality of which they are now enlightened to see. What wonder, therefore, that, if less vicious than others, they should yet see themselves to be more sinful; and, in proportion as they hope in his mercy, ask, with an emphasis peculiar to themselves, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me?” “Lord what wilt thou have me to do?”

Gi’eat King of Grace, my heart subdue;
I would be led in triumph too,
A willing captive to my Lord,
And sing the victories of his word.