seem to him as if he was dying; but, you know, death is very de- 1 ceitful. He seemed to be joyous and light-hearted. He would talk about his plans, and take out his guns, and tell how he intended to go hunting when he arrived; but it seemed to me that he would not live to see this country. By and by, he was taken down on his bed; and then the truth came to him that death was upon him. He got a friend to write out a telegram, which this friend was to send to his mother when they arrived. It read: "Mother, I am real sick. Charlie." As soon as the boat touched the shore, he was to send it. "But," said some one, 66 why not tell her in the telegram to come?" "Ah," he replied, "she will come." He knew, whenever she read it and saw that he wanted help, she would come. It was the knowledge of his need that would bring her. So Christ is waiting to hear our need, and man's need brings out the help of God. As I said before, the real trouble is that men don't think they need him. You know that in one place-in the 15th chapter of Luke-they brought this charge against him: "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." This charge was brought against him, again and again. I am told by Hebrew scholars that instead of "receiveth" it should be rendered, "He is looking out for them." And that's what he was doing: he was looking for them. He didn't care how black in sin they might be, he was ready to take them.

Now, a great many say, "I am too great a sinner to be saved." That is like a hungry man saying he is too hungry to eat, or a sick man saying he is too sick to send for a doctor, or a beggar saying, "I am too poor to beg; I'll wait till I get some money first." If a man is hungry and perishing, you must relieve him. Now there is not a sinner in Chicago but has his representative in the Bible. Take, for instance, the publicans. You know the Jews thought this class about the lowest in the world. They put them lower than any other kind of sinner; they placed them along with the sinners -"publicans and sinners." The publicans were the tax collectors, and they defrauded the people at every turn. For instance, a man in South Chicago will pay over, perhaps, a hundred thousand dollars for the privilege of just collecting the taxes; and then he goes to work and screws the people out of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He don't care a straw for justice, or appearances. He comes into the cottage of the widow and taxes half she has. At every house, the tax collector puts the blocks to his victims; and famine often comes in when he goes out. The people detest him; they hate him with a perfect hatred. They always find him a drag on them; and feel he hasn't a bit of sympathy for them. Their money, they find, is taken without warrant; their homes are broken up, and trouble and starvation come on them. And so the publican was hated wherever he turned. He was the agent of the Ronan tyrant, and the people were brought up to shun him. He deserved it all,

and even more, by his heartless exactions; and yet Christ forgave even him. And just so rum-sellers can be saved. And another class that Christ had mercy on was the thieves. When on the cross he saved a thief. There may be some thief here to-night. I tell you, my friend, you may be saved if you only will. There may be some one here who is persecuting a good wife, and making her home a perfect hell on earth. But you, too, may be saved. There may be some here persecuting the church, but there's salvation for you. When Saul was persecuting the Christians from city to city, he was stopped short by the voice of God; he was converted. And those high-headed Pharisees, so well versed in the law of Moses, even they were converted. Joseph, of Arimathea, was a Pharisee, and so was Nicodemus.

But to-night I want to talk about another class that Jesus dealt with, and led to a higher life. I want to talk about fallen women. There are some people who believe that these have fallen so low that Christ will pass them by. But, my friends, that thought comes from the Evil One. In all this blessed book, there is not one, not a solitary one of this class mentioned that ever came to him but that he received them. Yes, he even went out of his way and sought her out. Now I want to take three representative cases, where these women had to do with Christ. One is the case of an awakened one. The Spirit of God has dealt with her anxious, wakened soul. The Lord was one day at Jerusalem, and a banquet was given him by Simeon. There was a banquet table in the house, arranged according to the fashion of that day. Instead of chairs for the guests, as was customary, the guests sat reclining on lounges. Well, it was just one of these repasts that our Lord sat down to, along with the wealthy Simeon and his many guests. But no sooner had he entered than this woman followed him into the house, and fell down at his feet, and began to wash them with her tears. It was the custom in those days to wash one's feet on entering a house. Sandals were worn, and the practice was necessary. Well, this woman had got into the house by some means, and once inside had quietly stolen up to the feet of Jesus. And in her hands she brought a box. But her heart, too, was just as full of ointment as the box she carried; and there was the sweetest perfume as she stole to his feet. And her tears started to fall down on those sacred feet, hot, scalding tears that gushed out like water. She said nothing while the tears fell; and then she took down her long black hair, and wiped his feet with the hair of her head. And after that she poured out the ointment on his feet. Then straitway the Pharisees began talking together. How, all through the New Testament, these Pharisees keep whispering and talking together. They said, shaking their heads, "This man receiveth sinners;" and then, "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." No prophet, they insisted, would allow that kind of a woman near him, but would push her away. And then the Savior read these thoughts and quickly rebuked them. He said, "Simeon, I have something to say to thee." And he said, "Master, say on." And he said: "Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water to wash my feet; but she has washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss; but this woman since 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." Simeon was like a great many Pharisees nowadays, who say: "Oh, well, we will entertain that minister, if we must. We don't want to; he's a dreadful nuisance; but we will have to put up with him; it's our duty to be patronizing." Well, the Master said more to his entertainer. "There was a certain creditor," he said, "which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty, and when he had nothing to pay"-Mark that, sinner; the debtor had nothing to pay. There is no sinner in the world that can pay anything to cancel his debt to God. The great trouble is, that sinners think they can pay-some of them 75 cents on the dollar; some even feel able to pay 99 cents on the dollar, and the one cent that they are short, they think they can make that up some way. That is not the way; it is all wrong; you must throw all the debt on God. Some few, perhaps, will only claim to pay 25 cents on the dollar; but they are not humble enough either, they can't begin to carry out their bargain. Why, sinner, you couldn't pay one-tenth part of a single mill of the debt you are under to Almighty God. Now, it says in this parable, that they could not pay him anything; they had nothing to give, and the creditor frankly forgave them both, "Now, Simeon," the Master asked, "Which should love that man the most?" "I suppose, was the reply, "he that was forgiven the most." "Thou hast rightly judged; this woman loves much because she has been forgiven much." And went on to tell Simeon all about her; I suppose he wanted to make it plainer to Simeon. Then he turned to the poor woman, and said: Thy sins are forgiven"—all forgiven; not part of them; not half of them, but every sin from the cradle up, every impure desire or thought, is blotted out, for time and eternity. And he said, "Go in peace." Yes, truly; she went out in peace, for she went out in the light of heaven. With what brightness the light must have come down to her from those eternal hills; with what beauty it must have flashed on her soul. Yes, she came to the feet of the Master for a blessing, and she got it; and if there is a poor woman here to-night who wants a blessing, she will get it.

I want to call your attention to a thought right here. You have not got the name of one of those poor women. The three women