INCARNATE LOVE DELIGHTING IN A SINNER'S LOVE. W BY THE REV. JOHN COX, IPSWICH. 'She loved much.'-LUKE VII. 47. comed. She was owned by Him, delighted in by Him; she is, and ever will be, used by Him for his own glory and the good of others. This path to safety, happiness, honour, and usefulness is still open. Jesus still stands and cries, 'Come, ye weary, and find rest; come, ye thirsty, and drink the living water; come to me, loose your burdens, and find rest; come to me, quench the thirst of sin, and be made a fountain of blessing!' Few give heed to Him. Concerning most He has to say, 'Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.' Over many He uttered this lament when on earth; but not over all. There were glorious exceptions, and this is one. HAT the name of this person was, where she lived, and what her after history was, we know not; but this we know, that she loved much.' Nor have we on record a single word uttered by her. No confessions indicating deep penitence-no hymns of wondering rapturous praise are preserved and handed down to posterity. She says nothing; but the Lord speaks for her, and says that she loved much.' How brief, how wonderful, how blessed the history of this woman who was a sinner!' She just flits before us for a little while; her whole history does not take five minutes to read; and yet what an impress has she left on all time what a beneficial influence has she put forth on tens of thousands! When Elisha had restored the dead child to life, and called in the waiting, longing mother to receive her son, it is beautifully added, that she came in, fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, took up her child, and went out.' With what a burden in her arms, and what a blessing in her heart, did this mother go out! So this woman, who was a sinner, bereft, as she had been, of character, of joy, of hope, of all human sympathy, having found pardon and blessing in Jesus, took up her great load of peace, a burden which should ever after unburden all other burdens,' be as wings to her soul, and strength to her heart,-she took it up at Christ's bidding, and went out. It is true she was hissed at as she went out, by the scornful murmurers at the feast; but she heeds them not, for the Lord says of her, 'She loved much;' and He also says to her, 'Go in peace.' Yes, this woman that was a sinner, this woman without a name, without a home, without a character, without a single word to say on her own behalf, without any recorded after- In contemplating the path of Jesus, and trachistory,—this sinning, silent, weeping, minister-ing his history, we see Him having to do with ing, adoring woman, LOVED MUCH. Ah! how many who think themselves righteous, who have a name among men, who possess a home full of earthly joy, and by whom words have been uttered that are recorded and praised-how many of earth's favoured ones lack such a love as calls forth the Saviour's approval! She came to Jesus at his call, and was wel There is some reason to conclude that this beautiful incident related by Luke, occurred immediately after the Lord's discourse, recorded in Matt. xi. There the Lord speaks of himself as 'the Son of man, who came eating and drinking;' that is, He spake of himself as a social person, as indeed He ever manifested himself to be. On that occasion He also uttered the ever memorable words: 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' As usual, there were scribes and Pharisees, publicans and sinners, among his auditors. A Pharisee invited Him to his house to meat, and Jesus went. A woman in the city, who was a sinner,' came also to that feast, quite unbidden, and very unwelcome, as regards the Pharisee and his friends. It may be that she had heard the 'woe' of Jesus against the impenitent, and trembled; and the 'Come unto me' of Jesus to the weary, and had trusted; and, behold, she is soon at his feet weeping. Blessed station for the worst of sinners; thither the vilest may still go! เ many slow-of-heart followers, and some of the very worst of sinners. Who could be slower of heart and weaker of purpose than some of those who were constantly with Him, such as Thomas, Philip, and Peter? Who could be in a worse condition physically, than the raving maniac, whom a legion of devils once inhabited? Who nearer to hell than the dying thief? Who more vile and repulsive than this town-sinner? Yet we behold all these, and many more like them, brought to his feet, and into his kingdom, and bound around his brow for a diadem of glory. But Jesus says, 'Seest thou this woman?' Let us look at her. She has gained her muchdesired station. She is at his feet. Let who will frown, she is there. She touches the Lord. He must know it; yet she is not frowned on or repulsed. Oh! read the simple narrative again and again; there is melody and mercy in every syllable. The description of the woman, and the loving testimony of Jesus to her, are full of tenderness. Behold the wondrous processes of grace, and hearken to the words of incarnate love! What an unveiling of the human heart! What a discovery of the Saviour's heart, and through Him of the very heart of God! But we must again turn to the words so oft repeated: 'SHE LOVED MUCH.' one. I. Who was the loved one ?-The Lord does not mention himself; He does not say, She loved me much.' He might have said so, and have added to this great fact, that she now loved her own soul, who before was its worst enemy; that she now loved holiness, who so lately lived, and moved, and had her being in sin; that she now loved God, to whom she had so long said, 'Depart!' that she now loved her fellowcreatures, even those whom she had laboured to lead down to the chambers of death (Prov. v.). All this, and much beside, came through loving Him. Until Christ is loved, nothing else sublime or spiritual is really loved. Till then the soul grovels in the mire; but, loving Jesus, it soars into the heavens in communion, and spreads itself over the earth in compassion. And He is worthy to be loved; He is altogether lovely; He is infinitely loving; and He is 'THE BELOVED.' He is the Beloved of God, of angels, and of These are words full of deep meaning. In saints; they all testify of his excellency, and one sense they are common enough, and in an- invite us to love Him. There must be someother and higher sense very uncommon. Ful- thing somewhere I cannot love too much,' says filled in one way they are most evil, and in 'Behold,' says God, 'my beloved Son, in another way most blessed. It is indeed no un- whom I am well pleased.' He is not merely common thing for persons to love, and even to something, but everything-the 'ALL.' Not love much; too much a great deal. Over how words, things, systems, doctrines, precepts merely, many graves in every cemetery might these three have we to love; but a PERSON-One who words be placed as a true epitaph ?—He, or she, sustains all saving offices; fills up all tender loved much! Yes; but what, and who? Over relations; is set forth by all beautiful resemthe grave of the drunkard, the fornicator, the blances. Oh, love Him! He has done everycovetous, the selfish, these words might be truly thing to win your love; He calls for it, He written; and how terrible they look! Fearful prizes it, He will return it, He will account it facts are embodied in the words, lovers of his heart's treasure, part of his fulness, an pleasure rather than lovers of God;' 'lovers of element of gladness in which He will dwell. their own selves.' We may advance some steps Love Him much. You cannot think how much further, and think of the love of wives, husbands, He hath loved you. This woman loved much; mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, phil- Jesus loved more. Do you think that when this anthropists; all good in their places, all well as saved soul went in peace, she went out of the far as they go, but all ruinous, if not surmounted room thinking on her own 'much love?' No, no! by, and subordinated to a higher, nobler love. Christ could trust her for that. She (no doubt) For if any man (however amiable in the rela-realized his love so deeply, and thought of it so tionships of life, however charitable and kind highly, that she did not reflect with complacency towards the poor-1 Cor. xiii. 1-3)—' If any on her own love at all. Besides, the Lord had man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be told her that it was not her 'much love,' but anathema maranatha.' her simple faith, that had saved her. The Lord's testimony concerning her, that she had much forgiven, even before she came to his feet with her tears and precious ointment, must be carefully kept in mind. Somewhere or somehow she had heard about Him-believed on Him; God had put away her sin, and she had realized it was so. Now she comes to Christ's feet to express her gratitude, and there she received the gracious recognition of Christ, and a further realization of the joys of pardon, as she hears from his own lips, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.' It may be that at first her faith was not much, but little; 'Seest thou this woman,' immortal soul? Pass her not by in scorn. Jesus bids you come and learn the great lesson, not from her merely, but from HIM, sitting alongside of her. You must learn of Him, if ever you learn to love. But come and take your station with her; there is plenty of room and a hearty welcome. You require healing, and here is the great Physician; you need salvation, and here is an infinite Saviour; you want instructing, and a school is before you. Be a docile scholar at the feet of the great Teacher. It may be profitable to propose a few questions, and to endeavour to answer them. but this we know, that whether weak or strong, it led her to Christ, it saved her from sin, and it received salvation. We must believe the words of Jesus, trust his salvation, meditate on his love and loveliness, if we would love much, do much, and then think very little about it all. Oh! how true is it, as regards the deepest love to the Saviour, 'Fainter than the pale star's ray, II. Let us next ask, Who was the loving one? -She loved much.' She was, as we have seen, a sinner, and a notorious one; she was a hearer, and an attentive one; she was a believer, and a simple one. She just took the Lord Jesus at his word. Faith had come by hearing.' Christ said 'Come,' and she went. She believed that He meant what He said, and acted on it. Christ spake of burdens and rest. She was weighed down with an intolerable burden; she wanted rest. Her going to Christ was the proof that she believed Him, and believed or trusted in Him. And her faith worked love. The worst of sinners may become the greatest of saints. Yea, not only may, but actually have. Paul was 'the chief of sinners;' but where do we find a more holy, happy, honoured believer? Of all preachers, Peter was the most successful (Acts ii., xiv.). Yet how forward, how fickle and foolish had he been! The most triumphant words of burning devotion came from his lips, whose burdened bleeding soul had cried, 'Have mercy upon me, O God!' 'Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee!' Let not those who have a deep sense of personal unworthiness think that it is true humility for them to take a lower position as regards joy, peace, hope, and nearness than others; if you get this thought in your minds, you will not love much. This suggests a third question. III. Why did she love much ?-Because she had much forgiven.' The Lord puts the question, concerning the two debtors, Which of them will love him most?' And when Simon answered, 'I suppose that he to whom he forgave most,' the Lord said, Thou hast rightly judged;' and adds, 'Seest thou this woman? she hath much forgiven, and therefore she loveth much.' She had sins, and they were many; but mercy was above them. God multiplied pardons (Isa. lv. 8). And then she 'loved much. God's much more' is beyond the sinner's many. Oh, do not reverse the order, and magnify your sin เ above his mercy! Our sins are 'more in number than the hairs of our heads;' but God's mercies are more than the sands of the sea;' and who can count all those particles that girdle round the million leagues of ocean? This fact should awaken confidence towards God, and produce complacence in Him. 'I have blotted out,' He says, as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins; return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.' Oh, there is a mighty power in a realized pardon, to produce love to Him who pardons and pronounces the pardon; to Him who procured it, and for whose sake it is granted; and also love to Him who reveals the Saviour, and by Him brings the soul to God, thus establishing the sweetest friendship where there was the darkest enmity. Thus there is true love, and deep undying gratitude to a triune God of love. If then we would love much, we must study pardoning love. The loving heart of God-the bleeding heart of Christ-the yearning heart of the Spirit of grace, when believingly thought upon, will draw out our love. Be ye therefore imitators of God, as dear children, and walk in love.' What does the 'therefore' refer to? Where does this lever rest which alone can move the soul in the way of love? It rests on the Rock of forgiveness. 'God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you, therefore walk in love.' The joy of the Lord is our strength;' we joy in God through Jesus Christ when we receive the atonement; and there is a mighty motivepower in the joy of being forgiven. 'I can assure you,' says M'Cheyne, 'from all that ever I have felt of it, the pleasures of being forgiven are as superior to the pleasures of an unforgiven man, as heaven is higher than hell. The peace of being forgiven reminds me of the calm blue sky, which no earthly clamours can disturb. It lightens all labour, sweetens every morsel of bread, and makes a sick-bed soft and downy. Yea, it takes away the scowl of death.' A little girl of five years old once said to her mother, 'Do you know when I feel the happiest?' Her mother answered, 'I suppose when you are good.' 'No,' said she, but when I feel very sorry for having been naughty, and God has forgiven me.' How sweet is it to be forgiven! Yes, it is sweet, and it is strength also. The soul grateful for pardoning mercy will boldly confess the Saviour, and be truly consecrated to Him. IV. What came of this love?-'She loved much.' What resulted from it? What came from her, and what came to her? She loved much, and she did much, she gave much. She gave her best. 'She 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.' She gave herself, her tears, her property, her service, and that in the face of all opposition. She gave all directly and spontaneously to Him whom she loved. As we before saw the power of pardon to produce love, so now we see the power of love to produce consecration. Those who love will be devoted and diligent, and that in proportion to their love. They will also be humble and penitent when presenting their best to the Lord. Those surely do not love much who give grudgingly, and who do little. 'O Lord,' says good Bishop Hall, 'in vain shall we profess to love Thee if we do nothing for Thee.' 'He,' says Jesus,' that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.' Not mere feeling, but doing the will of God, is the criterion of love. Not the child that is often hanging round the mother's neck gives the strongest proof of affection, but the child that obeys the mother's commands.' We cannot now minister to Jesus personally; but we may serve Him in his gospel, and do good to his members. In this sense we may still reach down to his feet, and He will say, 'Whatsoever ye did unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me.' Let us thus study the deep humility, lowly penitence, and grateful service of this woman, all flowing from ardent affection, and seek grace to go and do likewise. heart wide, weeping one; prepare for greater 'We see the blood of Jesus shed, The sinner views the atonement made, Thus we learn that there comes to this much loving one from the Lord words of consolation, commendation, and counsel. Her sins are forgiven.' She loved much.' 'Go in peace.' Then we too shall have the commendation of the Lord. Notice what came to her, as the re- V. One closing question: Does Christ speak sult of these manifestations of much love. For thus of us?-He said so of one; it must have a time she seemed not to be noticed. She was been true. If it is true of us, Christ will say so; observed; but nothing was said to her. Indeed, but He will not say so if it is not true. Do we there seems to have been a silence pervading the love Christ at all? What say our thoughts; do company, during what was counted her intru- they dwell on Him? What say our wishes; do sive act. Simon' thought within himself.' The they desire Him? What say our affections; Lord Jesus heard every tick of his proud heart. do they delight in Him? What says our course; The woman, too, had her thoughts and feelings; do we diligently aim to serve Him? If you and the Lord had his as He observed both parties, love sin,-if you are the slave of any lust,-you but had delightful fellowship only with one, and do not love Him. If your chief aim is to get the that the despised one. At length He broke the world, you do not love Him. If you are prayersilence. Oh! how wise, how wondrously merci- less, selfish, envious, proud, passionate, you do ful, are his words! He had somewhat to say,' not love Him. But though you may be all this, and He delivered the beautiful and well-known and may have lived for years without any love parable of the two debtors.' Ah! there was a to Christ, all can be pardoned, and you begin heart just below Him, and very near and dear to to love; and all shall be pardoned, if you go as Him, that made the application as fast as the this woman did, taking Christ at his word, and words came from his loving lips. I am that depending simply on his atoning blood. God five hundred pence debtor.' The Lord went on, is in Christ reconciling,' and you may know it, 'Nothing to pay; all forgiven; frankly, frankly!'-may have your enmity slain, and begin a life Oh, how did her faith feed on that word 'frankly!' Surely, thought she, this is enough. Mercy itself can go no further than this. Pardoned sinner, it can and it will go much further; you as yet know not the tenderness and extent of mercy, and how gloriously it will triumph. Open thy 6 เ of love; and this will be heaven begun. The very worst and most depraved of sinners may thus be saved. The very outcasts of earth may here find a full forgiveness, a complete salvation, and prove the feet of Jesus to be the very gate of heaven. And while we would despair of none, let none despair. Here is the birthplace of a deathless hope for the most desponding soul; for here is the grave of sin, even the fathomless ocean of redeeming mercy. 'Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea,' even the sins of all who are willing to be saved in God's own way. And thou, poor miserable soul, toiling and wandering, seeking rest and finding none, then thou wilt find the true secret of happiness. Jesus will 'take thee, and heal thee, and let thee go.' He will say, 'Gò in peace,' and He will go with thee till life shall end; and thou shalt | be with Him in the palace of glory, even in his Father's house for ever. Oh, you who know these things by experience, you who have much forgiven, 'love much! See how all who are at Jesus' feet ministering are observed by Him. He notices what you are, and what you do. Your thoughts, feelings, and actions are registered, and will be revealed. The day is coming when the fire will burn up every religion but the religion of love. Will ours stand the test? The day is coming when nothing but what has been done in love, and from love, will obtain the plaudits of the righteous Judge. Are we likely to hear Him say, 'Well done?' Will there be cups of cold water, and boxes of ointment, kisses of affection, and tears of sympathy, set down to our account, for the Lord to acknowledge in that day? What are we doing for the Lord and for his people? What sacrifices are we making? what services are we rendering? In that day, even as now, the life and death, the person and work of Jesus, will be the only foundation of hope and the only reason for the bestowment of salvation; but the evidences of faith must then be forthcoming, and the degree of the Lord's approbation, and the measure of the reward, will be in proportion to our abounding in the work of the Lord,' and our own selfabasement for the glory of the Lord. Love hereafter; and if you would love much, live on much, if you would be happy here and honoured Jesus, abide in Jesus, be rooted and grounded in Jesus; so shall your life and lip say, 'We love Him, because He first loved us.' B CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. THE BLIND POSTMAN. LINDNESS is undoubtedly one of the greatest of earthly calamities; for by the loss of sight a man is at once deprived of all the enjoyment which is directly derived from viewing the glories of the physical creation. He can no longer admire the beauties of the rosy-fingered morn, or the gorgeous splendours of a summer sunset. To him the verdant freshness of the early spring, the luxuriant flowers of summer, and the many-tinted foliage of autumn, are all as nothing, or are things which live only in the memory and imagination. their happy home was made still more joyful by It was a lovely evening in August, the sky was clear, the sun shone brightly, and the trees were still green and fresh; while the ripened grain, some waiting for the reaper's sickle, and some standing in shocks ready to be garnered, told of coming joy and plenty. As Roberts walked from the town towards his cottage, at the conclusion of his day's work, he was much struck with the prospect around him, and feelings of gratitude to the great Father of all arose within him, when he thought of the many providential mercies he enjoyed. When within about half a mile of the village, and as he was crossing a small bridge, his attention was attracted to a child, about six or seven years of age, who was playing on the bank of the stream below. He stood watching the child for some minutes, when, to his horror, the little one, in attempting to pick a water-lily at some distance from the bank, lost his balance and fell into the Life, too, in its more serious and practical aspects, becomes a far more arduous struggle when its battle has to be fought in darkness. And although those who suffer from this dire calamity commonly excite much commiseration, and not a little true sympathy, it is to be feared that many of the efforts made on their behalf only aggravate and complicate the sufferings they were intended to alleviate. Notwithstand-stream. Roberts, who was an active man and a ing all this, we propose showing in the following simple story, that even without sight much real enjoyment may be had in life, and that by frugality and well-directed industry, comfort and independence may be achieved. William Roberts, the subject of our story, was a cabinetmaker, and resided in a small village, about two or three miles from the market town of S. He had married early in life a thrifty, comely lass; and as years rolled smoothly on, good swimmer, immediately ran down the bank, and throwing off his hat and coat quickly, plunged into the stream. But the current was rapid, and several minutes elapsed before he was able to overtake the floating child; but at length he did so, and soon bore it safely to land. But in climbing up the bank, which was rather precipitous, and covered with small bushes and underwood, his foot slipped, and as he fell forward with his senseless load, a small twig pierced his left eye, and produced such excruciating |