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A30160 The Jerusalem-sinner saved, or, Good news for the vilest of men being a help for despairing souls, shewing that Jesus Christ would have mercy in the first place offered to the biggest sinners / by John Bunyan. Bunyan, John, 1628-1688. 1689 (1689) Wing B5545; ESTC R27236 74,451 194

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their Children also to come to him and to partake of the same Grace thorow Christ Jesus But what was Paul and the Ephesian-Sinners of Paul we will speak anon These Ephesian-Sinners They were men dead in Sins men that walked according to the dictates and motions of the Devil worshippers of Diana that Effeminate Godd●ss Men far off from God aliens and strangers to all good things such as were far off from that as I s●id and cons●quently in a most deplorable condition As the Jerusalem-Sinners were of the highest sort among the Jews so these Ephesian-Sinners were of the highest sort among the Gentiles Ephes. 2.1 2 3. Acts 19.35 Ephes. 2.11 12. W●erefore as by the Jerusalem-Sinners in saving them first he had a design to provoke others to come to him for Mercy so The same design is here set on foot again in his calling and converting the Ephesian-Sinners that in the Ages to come he might shew the ●xceeding Riches of his Grace says he in his kindness towards us thorow Christ Jesus T●ere is yet one hint behind 'T is said that God saved these FOR his love That is as I think for the setting forth for the commendations of his love for the advance of his love in the Hearts and minds of them that should come after As who should say God has had Mercy upon and been Gracious to you that he might shew to others for their encouragement that they have ground to come to him to be saved When God saves one great Sinner 't is to encourage another great Sinner to come to him for Mercy He saved the Thief to encourage Thieves to come to him for Mercy He saved Magdalen to encourage other Magdalens to come to him for Mercy He saved Saul to encourage Sauls to come to him for Mercy And this Paul himself doth say For this cause saith he I obtained Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering for a Pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting 1 Tim. 1.16 How plain are the words Christ in saving of me has given to the World a Patern of his Grace that they might see and believe and come and be saved That they that are to be born hereafter might believe on Jesus Christ to life everlasting But what was Paul Why he tells you himself I am says he the chief of Sinners I was says he a Blasphemer a Pers●cutor an injurious Person but I obtained Mercy 1 Tim. 1.14 15. Ay that 's well for you Paul but what advantage have we thereby Oh very much saith he For for this cause I obtained M●rcy that in me First Jesus Christ might shew all long suffering for a pattern to them which shall believe on him to life everlasting Thus therefore you see that this third Reason is of strength namely That Jesus Christ would have Mercy offered in the first place to the biggest Sinners because by their Forgiveness and Salvation others hearing of it will be encouraged the more to come to him for M●rcy It may well therefore be said to God Thou delight●st in Mercy and Mercy pleases thee Mich. 7.18 But who believes that this was Gods design in shewing Mercy of old Namely That we that come after might take courage to come to him for Mercy or that Jesus Christ would have Mercy offered in the first place to the biggest Sinners to stir up others to come to him for Life This is not the manner of men O God! But David saw this betimes therefore he makes this one Argument with God That he would blot out his Transgressions that he would forgive his Adultery his Murders and horrible Hypocrisie Do it O Lor● saith he do it And then will I teach Trans●ressors thy ways and Sinners shall be Converted unto thee Psal. 51.7 8 9 10 11 12 13. He knew that the Conversion of Sinners would be a work highly pleasing to God as being that which he had designed before he made Mountain or Hill Wherefore he comes and he saith Save me O Lord if thou wilt but save me I will fall in with thy design I will help to bring what Sinners to thee I can And Lord I am willing to be made a Preacher my self for that I have been a horri●le Sinner wherefore if thou sh●lt forgive my great Transgressions I sh●ll be a fit man to tell of thy wonderous Grace to others Yea Lord I dare promise that if thou wilt have mercy upon me it shall tend to the glory of thy Grace and also to the increase of thy Kingdom for I will tell it and Sinners will hear on'● And there is nothing so suiteth with the hearing Sinner as Mercy and to be inform'd that God is willing to bestow it upon him I will teach Transgressors thy ways and Sinners sh●ll be Converted unto thee Nor will Christ Jesus miss of his design in profering of Mercy in the first place to the biggest Sinners You know what work the Lord by laying hold of the Woman of Samaria made among the People there They knew that she was a Town-Sinner an Adultress Yea one that after the most audacious manner lived in Uncleanness with a man that was not her Husband But when she from a turn upon her Heart went into the City and said to her Neighbours Come Oh how they came how they flocked out of the City to Jesus Christ Then they went out of the City and came to him and many of the Samaritans People perhaps as bad as her self believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified saying He told me all that ever I did John 4.39 That word He told me all that ever I did was a great Argument with them for by that they gathered That tho he knew her to be vile yet he did not despise her nor refuse to shew how willing he was to communicate his Grace unto her And this fetched over fi●st her then them This woman as I said was a Samaritan-Sinner a Sinner of the worst Complexion For the Jews abhorred to have ought to do with them verse 9. wherefore none more fit than she to be made one of the Decoys of Heaven to bring others of these Samaritan Wild-Fowls under the Net of t●e Grace of Christ. And she did the work to purpose Many and many more of the Samaritans believed on him Verse 40 41 42. The Heart of man tho set on Sin will when it comes once to a perswasion that God is willing to have Mercy upon us incline to come to Jesus Christ for life witness those turn-a-ways from God that you also read of in Jeremiah for after they had heard three or four times over that God had Mercy for backsliders they broke out and said Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God. Or as those in Hosea did For in thee the F●therless find mercy Jer. 3.22 Hos. 14.1 2 3. Mercy and the revelation thereof is the only Antidote against Sin.
and many others made mention of in this Book Yea here are their Names their Sins and their Salvations recorded together that you may read and know what a Saviour he is and do him honour in the World. For why are these things thus recorded but to shew to Sinners what he can do to the praise and glory of his grace And it is observable as I said before we have but very little of the Salvation of little sinners mentioned in God's Book because that would not have answered the design to wit to bring glory and fame to the Name of the Son of God. What should be the reason think you why Christ should so easily take a denial of the great ones that wear the Grandure of the World and struggle so hard for Hedge creepers and Highway men as that Parable Luke 14. seems to import he doth but to shew forth the riches of the glory of his Grace to his praise This I say is one Reason to be sure They that had their Grounds their yoke of Oxen and their m●rriage Joys were invited to come but they made their excuse and that serv●d the turn But when he comes to deal with the worst he saith to his Servants Go ye out and bring them in higher Go out quickly and bring in hither the poor the maimed the halt and the blind And they did so And he said again Go out into the high ways and Hed●es and Compel them to come in that my house may be fill●d Luk. 14.18 19 23. These poor lame maimed blind hedge-creepers and high way men Must come in Must be forced in These if saved will make his Merits shine When Christ was crucified and hanged up between the Earth and Heavens there was two Thieves crucified with him and behold he lays hold of one of them and will have him away with him to Glory Was not this a strange act and a display of unthought-of grace Were there none but Thieves there or were the rest of that company out of his reach Could he not think you have stooped from the Cross to the Ground and have laid hold on some honester man if he would Yes doubtless Oh but then he would not have displayed his Grace nor so have pursued his own designs namely to get to himself a praise and a name But now he has done it to purpose For who that sh●ll read this Story but must confess that the Son of God is full of grace for a proof of the riches ther●of he left behind him when upon the Cross he took the T●ief away with him to glory Nor can this one act of his be buried It will be talked of to the end of the World to his praise Men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts and will declare thy greatness Th●y shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness and shall sing of thy righteousness They shall speak of the glory of thy Kingdom and talk of thy power To make known to the Sons of men his mighty acts and the gl●rious Majesty of his Kingdom Psal. 145.6 7 8 9 10 11 12. When the Word of God came among the Conjurers and those Sooth-sayers that you read of Act. 19. and had p●evailed with some of them to accept of the grace of Christ the Holy Ghost records it with a boast for that it would redound to his praise saying And many of them that used curious Arts brought their Books toge●her and burned th●m before all men and counted the price of them and found it fifty thousand piec●s of Silver So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed Acts 19. 19 20. It wrenched out of the clutches of Satan some of those of whom he thought himself most sure So mightily grew the Word of God. It grew mightily it incroached upon the Kingdom of the Devil It pursued him and took the prey It forced him to let go his hold It brought away captive as Prisoners taken by force of Arms some of the most valiant of his Army It fetch back from as it were the confines of Hell some of those that were his most trusty and that with Hell had been at an agreement It made them come and confess their deeds and burn their Books before all men So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed Thus therefore you see why Christ will have Mercy offered in the first place to the biggest Sinners They have most need thereof and this is the most ready way to extol his name that rideth upon the Heavens to our help But Thirdly Christ Jesus would have Mercy offered in the first place to the biggest Sinners Because by their Forgiveness and Salvation others hearing of it will be encouraged the more to come to him for Life For the Physi●ian by curing of the most desperate at the first doth not only get himself a Name but begets Encouragement in the minds of other diseased folk to come to him for help Hence you read of our Lord that after through his tender mercy he had Cured many of great Diseases his Fame was spread abroad They brought unto him all sick People that were taken with divers Diseases and Torments and those which were poss●sse● with Devils and those which were Lunatick and those that had the Palsie and he healed them and there followed him great multitudes of People from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond Jordan Mat. 4.24 25. See here He first by working gets himself a Fame a Name and Renown and now men take Encouragement and bring from all quarters their Diseased to him being helped by what they had heard to believe that their Diseased should be healed Now as he did with those outward Cures so he does in the proffers of his Grace and Mercy he proffers that in the first place to the biggest Sinners that others may take Heart to come to him to be saved I will give you a Scripture or two I mean to shew you that Christ by commanding that his Mercy should in the first place be offered to the biggest of Sinners has a design thereby to encourage and provoke others to come also to him for Mercy God saith Paul who is rich in Mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in our sins hath quickened us together with Christ. by Grace ye are saved and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus But why did he do all this That in the Ages to come he might shew the exceeding R●ches of his Grace in his kindness towards us thorow Christ Jesus Ephes. 2.4 5 6 7. See here 's a design God lets out his Mercy to Eph●sus of design even to shew to the Ages to come the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his kindness to them thorow Christ Jesus And why to shew by these the exceeding Riches of his Grace to the Ages to come thorow Christ Jesus But to alure them and