As an appendix to the foregoing narratives of "Conversions," we add the following notes on the inspired record as to the grace of God and its effects on one that "was a sinner."
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 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.—Luke 7 :37, 38.
(Read to end of the chapter.)
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IS it not singular that perhaps the most remarkable history of a woman given in the Bible should give neither her name nor the place of her abode ? It only shows how little store God sets by posthumous fame, or all the honors this world can bestow. But before the image of this nameless woman the world has stood in mutt admiration for nearly two thousand years—as a living monument of the Saviour's compassion and a sinner's hope.
And the challenge of Jesus to Simon, " Seest thou this woman ? " has been ringing through all the ages of the past, and hundreds of thousands have beheld her and rejoiced in the glorious truths illustrated in this nameless woman with a power and pathos the world can never match.
We have space only to point out the most obvious lessons this wonderful picture teaches.
"SEEST THOU THIS WOMAN?"
She is a sinner. So great a sinner that she answers to no other name —" the woman that was a sinner." The common name to ordinary sinners became a proper name when applied to her. So notorious a sinner was she that the Pharisee wondered that Jesus allowed her to come into His presence. Yea, according to Jesus' own estimate, she was worse than ordinary sinners, for she was five hundred pence in debt, while some are only fifty. The Pharisee considered her very touch polluting, as of one with leprosy.
Now, here is a test case for sinners. If Jesus saved such as she, none need despair. If His gospel is only for good, respectable people, this woman has no chance. If it is only for Pharisees, she can't be saved. If Jesus pays only fifty-pence debts, this five-hundred-pence sinner has no hope. Her tears are all in vain if the gospel of Christ was rightly understood by Simon. But Simon did not understand the gospel as well as the "woman that was a sinner."
But, in the second place, She was saved.
Her sins, which were many, were forgiven,— all forgiven, five hundred though they were! A big debt, but Jesus "paid it all."
The gospel of Christ is a gospel for sinners, and not for Pharisees; therefore the woman was saved and the Pharisee was not. Jesus 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."
Simon knew the woman, but he did not know Jesus. He knew she was a sinner, a great sinner; but he did not know the greater Saviour who was sitting that day at his table, with power to forgive sins and to save the chiefest of sinners.
But a most important question is, How was this woman saved ?
That she was a great sinner, she did not deny. That she was saved, Jesus says Himself. Now, it is a vital question with every one of us, How was this woman saved ?
Negatively:—
Not by works ;—she had none. She was a notorious sinner, a woman whose name was cast out as vile. The Pharisee, who had the good works, was not saved; while the sinner, without any good works, was saved.
Not by baptism, or the Lord's Supper;—she had never been baptized, and the Lord's Supper had not yet been instituted; and yet she was saved at that time, and the Pharisee, who had been circumcised and kept the Passover, was not saved.
Not by going to church ;—she was insulted in the Pharisee's house, and could not have lived in the Pharisee's church.
Then how was she saved ? Jesus answers, Himself
"Thy faith hath saved thee."
It is not thy good works, nor thy baptism, nor thy church-membership, not even thy repentance, nor thy love, nor thy confession, but "thy faith bath saved thee."
Let that settle the question forever. It is the fiat of Jehovah, the word of the Author of salvation Himself. Let no blasphemous tongue suggest another way. Let no impious hand put anything else where Jesus put faith alone.
Ever since Cain, men have sought other ways to be saved—Cain's way, not God's; so did this Simon; so do men yet. But no man has ever yet been saved (or ever will be) who was not saved like this woman faith in Christ.
There is only one way, and "I am the way," said Jesus. The woman went that way; so did Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; John, Peter, and Paul; and every one who ever reached heaven went that way.
The woman believed He was a Saviour; the Pharisee did not. The woman went to Him for salvation; the Pharisee did not. The woman was saved; the Pharisee was not.
The history is a short one, but its consequences are not all told yet; they are eternal. This is only the beginning; the fulness of it will be told in the Father's house above.
The proofs of her faith.
This woman showed the reality of her faith by her repentance for her sin. Was there ever a more genuine sorrow for sin than she exhibited ? She had been a great sinner; she knew it, felt it, and, voiceless in her sorrow, she had no language but tears, bitter tears, to tell that sorrow. Simon had none.
Then, also, by her love. "Love laughs at lock-smiths," they tell us; hers laughed at the sneers of the crowd, at the etiquette that excluded her from Simon's house—-an unbidden, unwelcome guest. No wonder Jesus said, "She loved much." Behold her there !—kissing the feet she had bathed with her tears: presuming not to kiss the immaculate lips Simon refused to honor, she esteemed it honor enough to kiss His sacred feet, which had brought her salvation. What but love, too deep for language, would ever have found such a voice as that! "Ceased not to kiss" the weary feet that had trodden the thorny way of sin for her lost soul!
Blessed woman! As we gaze on thee there at His feet, we are humbled by the lack of our own gratitude and want of love for that adorable Mas-ter. Thy memory is a benediction to this sin-cursed earth. "God's sacred gallery would not be complete without thy nameless picture; the song of the redeemed would be wanting without the note of thy voiceless love in Simon's house:' Then, by her sacrifices, she showed her faith. She brought her treasure, like Mary of Bethany (perhaps all her treasure), the precious ointment with which to anoint her Lord and Saviour. Hers was a love that knew no idol but Jesus, that withheld no offering from His service. The rich Pharisee could not give even common oil to anoint Christ's head; this poor woman could pour the most costly ointment on His precious feet.
I am sorry to say, Simon has more followers to-day than the woman that was a sinner. Not many prove their faith by sacrifices for the Master. Many of His professed followers bestow more on every lust of the flesh than in the service of the Lord.
Finally, by her noble confession, she showed her faith. She believed in Jesus, and she was not ashamed to manifest it. She made that confession under circumstances which would try the courage of many; but she never faltered. She could not help it. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."
Paul tells us, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and with the mouth confess-ion is made unto salvation."
Jesus says, "Whoso confesseth Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father and the holy angels."
She confessed Him here, and for nineteen hundred years He has been confessing her yonder before His Father and the holy angels.
My brother seest thou this woman ?—nameless here, but with a new and an immortal name yon-der, among the angels of God!
Penitent sinner! seest thou this woman, voice-less here, save with tears of penitential joy ? Now, with the tongue of a seraph, she sings the new "song of Moses and the Lamb."
Trembling sinner! seest thou this woman, that was a sinner here, weeping bitter tears ?—now washed in the blood of the Lamb and clothed in white raiment, and following Him to "fountains of living water," all tears forever wiped away from her eyes by the hand of God Himself!
Pharisee! seest thou this woman, made righteous in Christ, without any righteousness of her own ? "Verily, I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."
Skeptic! seest thou this woman ?—abandoned by men, but not by God; her sins, which were many, forgiven; her sorrows, which were heavy, re-moved. "Be not faithless, but believing."
E. O. G.
Trying to Enter by the Wrong Door.
MAN who had been long anxious about his soul obtained peace with God through a gospel address by Robert M'Cheyne. At the close of the service he went to the minister to tell him the good news. The joy of the Lord so filled his soul, and caused his face to glow that Mr. M’Cheyne simply asked: "How did you get in ?" And the friend replied, " Ail the time I have been trying to enter by the SAINT'S DOOR, but while you were speaking I saw my mistake and entered in at the SINNER'S DOOR,
This is what many are doing. They desire to enter by the saine3 doer, instead of the sinner's door, They try to give up this, that, and the other sin and bad habit. They vow and resolve that they will act differently in the future from what they have done in the past. In other words, they are seeking to better themselves and make themselves fit for God's presence. All the while they are turning their back on the door by which they are to enter. The Lord Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19: 10.) So long as you seek to do, or bring some meritorious thing for salvation, you will find a closed door. Come as you are, come to Jesus with your sins, and accept the sinner's Saviour. YOUR NEED IS 'YOUR CLAIM. Come to Christ as a sinner—not as a saint.
And him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.—John 6: 37.
iLeizeaux Brothers, Bible Truth Depot, 1 East 13th St., New York.