The heart of this unhappy woman was like a steel-girded prison cell.
It had locked in it as prisoners seven devils. Jesus opened the door,
and cast them out, and went in himself, and shut the door after him,
and when he shuts no man can open. Mary Magdalene was in the hollow
of God's hand forever.
Let me tell you how the seven devils got into her heart, and the
story of how they were cast out when she met Jesus.
Mary Magdalene was just like the rest of us, for we all have seven
devils in our heart, and some have a few more. She was born in sin
like all of us. She was not born a sinner; none of us are, for we do
not become sinners until we arrive at that age when with a free
choice we choose to do evil, then we are sinners.
Mary Magdalene began like a pure stream which starts in the mountain;
but as it descends to a lower level polluting streams of water flow
into it, and by and by the river is dark with impurities.
The Hudson River has its head in the highlands of the Adirondack
mountains, 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. It has a good
start. It is almost "holy ground." There the trees have grown tall
and beautiful for hundreds of years. Beneath the shade of these the
baby river rolls out and on. It plunges over the rocks in beautiful
cascades and races on to its river bed. Wild beasts wade through its
cooling waters, slake their thirst, and at night sleep by the river's
side when the high sky hangs out its golden lanterns and smiles at
the little baby climbing over the sides of its mountain cradle. And
so the river rolls on larger and larger with the benediction of God
and nature.
At first the child river is as clear as the air, as polished as the
fairest diamond. So Mary Magdalene started life as fair as the
mountain stream. She was born on the shore of the blue waters of the
Lake of Galilee. She was not born in the slums, nor was she in her
early days surrounded by the vicious, she did not spend her childhood
in rags and filth. Beyond all doubt she was well born, and belonged
to the upper class.
She seems to have inherited wealth which she spent in after years,
ministering to the work of the Saviour. She was like a zephyr, pure
as the mountain air; she was as free and cheery as the birds of the
high hills. Then temptations came, and the polluting streams of
sinful rivers flowed into this little mountain stream. At last her
beautiful heart became the prison house of seven devils.
To illustrate this lesson prepare a _white_ cardboard heart. Make it
a double heart with the top of it left open, so you can put into it
seven small cards, representing so many devils.
Call this heart Mary Magdalene, and then as you talk of the polluting
streams which flow into it deposit the cards standing for the seven
devils into the heart that is clean and white.
Name the devils:
_Disobedience._ This is the sin that is ready to grip us as soon as
we tumble over the side of the cradle of life. She went wrong just by
disobeying her parents; at least most little folks do, and I suppose
she was just like the rest of us. Once there was a prisoner who sat
in his cell awaiting the fast approaching hour of his execution.
While he was thus waiting, with a piece of clay he drew on the wall
of his cell a picture of the gallows upon which he was soon to die.
He made a number of steps which led up to it, and called each step
after a sin which he had done that soon would lead him up to his doom
on the gallows. The first step he marked was "Disobedience to
Parents." That was his first great sin, as he saw it. Now take a
small _black_ card on which you have written the word "Disobedience"
and put it into the heart. This is the first devil.
The next polluting power which entered the heart we will call "Sinful
Dress." In the land where Mary Magdalene was raised the people
dressed in gay colors, and wore much and very elaborate jewelry on
the ankles, arms, neck, and head; there they placed their bands of
gold. They had large opportunity to overdo the dress question, and
they did so. The rich owned many changes of raiment, and often like
the leaders of fashion today could boast that they could change their
costumes hourly if they so desired. She was doubtless very beautiful
and charming. Her Oriental garments made her look like a queen in
royal splendor. She soon "fell" for this polluting poison called
"fashion," and like millions of her present-day sisters her feet got
tangled up in her robes of fashion, and she slipped and fell from the
pinnacle of purity into the madly burning lake of sin. As you make
this remark drop in the heart a _pink_ card on which the words
"_Sinful Dress_" have been written. This is the second devil.
Make it clear to your hearers that carefulness in dress is not wrong,
and neatness is not vanity.
Now produce a blue card on which you have marked two large letters
"CO.," which stands for "Company."
Soon Mary Magdalene found evil company as did the Prodigal Son and
soon she was a common sinner.
Evil company is like evil spirits seeking to pull down to their level
the highest and best. As you say this deposit this card into the
heart and say, "This is the _third devil._"