sinners. “To whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” He gets
not water for his feet, by his saving of such sinners. There are
abundance of dry-eyed Christians in the world, and abundance of dry-eyed
duties too; duties that never were wetted with the tears of contrition
and repentance, nor ever sweetened with the great sinner’s box of
ointment. And the reason is, such sinners have not great sins to be
saved from; or if they have, they look upon them in the diminishing glass
of the holy law of God. But I rather believe, that the professors of our
days want a due sense of what they are; for, verily, for the generality
of them, both before and since conversion, they have been sinners of a
lusty size. But if their eyes be holden, if convictions are not shewn,
if their knowledge of their sins is but like to the eye-sight in
twilight; the heart cannot be affected with that grace that has laid hold
on the man; and so Christ Jesus sows much, and has little coming in.
Wherefore his way is ofttimes to step out of the way, to Jericho, to
Samaria, to the country of the Gadarenes, to the coasts of Tyre and
Sidon, and also to Mount Calvary, that he may lay hold of such kind of
sinners as will love him to his liking; Luke xix. 1–11; John iv. 3–11;
Mark v. 1–21; Matt. xv. 21–29; Luke xxiii. 33–44.
But thus much for the sixth reason, why Christ Jesus would have mercy
offered in the first place to the biggest sinners, to wit, because such
sinners, when converted, are apt to love him most. The Jerusalem sinners
were they that outstripped, when they were converted, in some things, all
the churches of the Gentiles. “They were of one heart, and of one soul,
neither said any of them, that aught of the things that they possessed
was their own.” “Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as
many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the
price of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’
feet,” &c.; Acts iv. 32–35. Now, shew me such another pattern if you
can. But why did these do thus? Oh! they were Jerusalem sinners. These
were the men that but a little before had killed the Prince of Life; and
those to whom he did, that notwithstanding, send the first offer of grace
and mercy. And the sense of this took them up betwixt the earth and the
heaven, and carried them on in such ways and methods as could never be
trodden by any since. They talk of the church of Rome, and set her in
her primitive state, as a pattern and mother of churches; when the truth
is, they were the Jerusalem sinners, when converts, that out-did all the
churches that ever were.
_Seventhly_, Christ Jesus would have mercy offered, in the first place,
to the biggest sinners; because grace when it is received by such, finds
matter to kindle upon more freely than it finds in other sinners. Great
sinners are like the dry wood, or like great candles, which burn best and
shine with biggest light. I lay not this down, as I did those reasons
before, to shew, that when great sinners are converted, they will be
encouragement to others, though that is true; but to shew that Christ has
a delight to see grace, the grace we receive, to shine. We love to see
things that bear a good gloss; yea, we choose to buy such kind of matter
to work upon, as will, if wrought up to what we intend, cast that lustre
that we desire.
Candles that burn not bright, we like not: wood that is green will rather
smother, and sputter, and smoke, and crack, and flounce, than cast a
brave light and a pleasant heat: wherefore great folks care not much, not
so much for such kind of things, as for them that will better answer
their ends.
Hence Christ desires the biggest sinner; in him there is matter to work
by, to wit, a great deal of sin; for as by the tallow of the candle, the
fire takes occasion to burn the brighter; so by the sin of the soul,
grace takes occasion to shine the clearer. Little candles shine but
little, for there wanteth matter for the fire to work upon; but in the
great sinner, here is more matter for grace to work by. Faith shines,
when it worketh towards Christ, through the sides of many and great
transgressors, and so does love, for that much is forgiven. And what
matter can be found in the soul for humility to work by so well, as by a
sight that I have been and am an abominable sinner? And the same is to
be said of patience, meekness, gentleness, self-denial, or of any other
grace. Grace takes occasion by the vileness of the man to shine the
more; even as by the ruggedness of a very strong distemper or disease,
the virtue of the medicine is best made manifest. Where sin abounds,
grace much more abounds; Rom. v. 20. A black string makes the neck look
whiter; great sins make grace burn clear. Some say, when grace and a
good nature meet together, they do make shining Christians: but I say,
when grace and a great sinner meet, and when grace shall subdue that
great sinner to itself, and shall operate after its kind in the soul of
that great sinner, then we have a shining Christian; witness all those of
whom mention was made before.
Abraham was among the idolaters when in the land of Assyria, and served
idols with his kindred on the other side of the flood; Jos. xxiv. 2; Gen.
xi. 31. But who, when called, was there in the world, in whom grace
shone so bright as in him?
The Thessalonians were idolaters before the word of God came to them; but
when they had received it, they became examples to all that did believe
in Macedonia and Achaia; 1 Thess. i. 6–10.
God the Father, and Jesus Christ his Son, are for having things seen, for
having the word of life held forth. They light not a candle that it
might be put under a bushel, or under a bed, but on a candlestick, that
all that come in may see the light; Matt. v. 15; Mark iv. 21; Luke viii.
16; chap. xi. 33.
And, I say, as I said before, in whom is light like so to shine, as in
the souls of great sinners?
When the Jewish Pharisees dallied with the gospel, Christ threatened to
take it from them, and to give it to the barbarous heathens and
idolaters. Why so? For they, saith he, will bring forth the fruits
thereof in their season: “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God
shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof;” Matt. xxi. 41–43.
I have often marvelled at our youth, and said in my heart, What should be
the reason that they should be so generally at this day debauched as they
are? For they are now profane to amazement; and sometimes I have thought
one thing, and sometimes another; that is, why God should suffer it so to
be. At last I have thought of this: How if the God, whose ways are past
finding out, should suffer it so to be now, that he might make of some of
them the more glorious saints hereafter. I know sin is of the devil, but
it cannot work in the world without permission: and if it happens to be
as I have thought, it will not be the first time that God the Lord hath
caught Satan in his own design. For my part, I believe that the time is
at hand, that we shall see better saints in the world than has been seen
in it this many a day. And this vileness, that at present does so much
swallow up our youth, is one cause of my thinking so: for out of them,
for from among them, when God sets to his hand, as of old, you shall see
what penitent ones, what trembling ones, and what admirers of grace, will
be found to profess the gospel to the glory of God by Christ.
Alas! we are a company of worn-out Christians, our moon is in the wane;
we are much more black than white, more dark than light; we shine but a
little; grace in the most of us is decayed. But I say, when they of
these debauched ones that are to be saved shall be brought in, when these
that look more like devils than men shall be converted to Christ (and I
believe several of them will), then will Christ be exalted, grace adored,
the word prized, Zion’s path better trodden, and men in the pursuit of
their own salvation, to the amazement of them that are left behind.
Just before Christ came into the flesh, the world was degenerated as it
is now: the generality of the men in Jerusalem, were become either high
and famous for hypocrisy, or filthy base in their lives. The devil also
was broke loose in a hideous manner, and had taken possession of many:
yea, I believe that there was never generation before nor since, that
could produce so many possessed with devils, deformed, lame, blind, and
infected with monstrous diseases, as that generation could. But what was
the reason thereof, I mean the reason from God? Why one (and we may sum
up more in that answer that Christ gave to his disciples concerning him
that was born blind) was, that the works of God might be made manifest in
them, and that the Son of God might be glorified thereby, John ix. 2, 3;
chap. xi. 4.
Now if these devils and diseases, as they possessed men then, were to
make way and work for an approaching Christ in person, and for the
declaring of his power, why may we not think that now, even now also, he
is ready to come by his Spirit in the gospel to heal many of the
debaucheries of our age? I cannot believe that grace will take them all,
for there are but few that are saved; but yet it will take some, even
some of the worst of men, and make blessed ones of them. But, O how
these ringleaders in vice will then shine in virtue! They will be the
very pillars in churches, they will be as an ensign in the land. “The
Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people:
for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon
his land;” Zech. ix. 16. But who are these? Even idolatrous Ephraim,
and backsliding Judah; ver. 13.
I know there is ground to fear, that the iniquity of this generation will
be pursued with heavy judgments: but that will not hinder what we have
supposed. God took him a glorious church out of bloody Jerusalem, yea,
out of the chief of the sinners there, and left the rest to be taken and
spoiled, and sold, thirty for a penny, in the nations where they were
captives. The gospel working gloriously in a place, to the seizing upon
many of the ringleading sinners thereof, promiseth no security to the
rest, but rather threateneth them with the heaviest and smartest
judgments; as in the instance now given, we have a full demonstration;
but in defending, the Lord will defend his people; and in saving, he will
save his inheritance.
Nor does this speak any great comfort to a decayed and backsliding sort
of Christians; for the next time God rides post with his gospel, he will
leave such Christians behind him. But I say, Christ is resolved to set
up his light in the world; yea, he is delighted to see his graces shine;
and therefore he commands that his gospel should to that end be offered,
in the first place, to the biggest sinners; for by great sins it shineth
most; therefore he saith, “Begin at Jerusalem.”
_Eighthly_, and lastly, Christ Jesus will have mercy to be offered in the
first place to the biggest sinners; for that by that means the impenitent
that are left behind will be at the judgment the more left without
excuse.
God’s word has two edges; it can cut back-stroke and fore-stroke: if it
doth thee no good, it will do thee hurt; it is the savour of life unto
life to those that receive it, but of death unto death to them that
refuse it; 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16. But this is not all; the tender of grace
to the biggest sinners in the first place, will not only leave the rest,
or those that refuse it, in a deplorable condition, but will also stop
their mouths, and cut off all pretence to excuse at that day. “If I had
not come and spoken unto them,” saith Christ, “they had not had sin; but
now they have no cloak for their sin,” for their sin of persevering in
impenitence; Job xv. 22.
But what did he speak to them? Why, even that which I have told you; to
wit, That he has in special a delight in saving the biggest sinners. He
spake this in the way of his doctrine; he spake this in the way of his
practice, even to the pouring out of his last breath before them; Luke
xxiii. 34.
Now, since this is so, what can the condemned at the judgment say for
themselves, why sentence of death should not be passed upon them? I say,
what excuse can they make for themselves, when they shall be asked why
they did not in the day of salvation come to Christ to be saved? Will
they have ground to say to the Lord, Thou wast only for saving of little
sinners; and therefore because they were great ones, they durst not come
unto him? or that thou hadst not compassion for the biggest sinners,
therefore I died in despair? Will these be excuses for them, as the case
now standeth with them? Is there not every where in God’s book a flat
contradiction to this, in multitudes of promises, of invitations, of
examples, and the like? Alas, alas! there will then be there millions of
souls to confute this plea; ready, I say, to stand up, and say, O!
deceived world, heaven swarms with such, as were, when they were in the
world, to the full as bad as you.
Now, this will kill all plea or excuse, why they should perish in their
sins; yea, the text says, they shall see them there. “There shall be
weeping, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the
prophets in the kingdom of heaven, and you yourselves thrust out. And
they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and
from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God;” Luke xiii. 28,
29. Out of which company it is easy to pick such as sometimes were as
bad people as any that now breathe on the face of the earth. What think
you of the first man, by whose sins there are millions now in hell? And
so I may say, What think you of ten thousand more besides?
But if the world will not stifle and gag them up (I speak now for
amplification’s sake), the view of those who are saved shall.
There comes an incestuous person to the bar, and pleads, That the bigness
of his sins was a bar to his receiving the promise. But will not his
mouth be stopped as to that, when Lot and the incestuous Corinthian shall
be set before him; Gen. xix. 33–37; 1 Cor. v. 1, 2.
There comes a thief, and says, Lord, my sin of theft, I thought, was such
as could not be pardoned by thee! But when he shall see the thief that
was saved on the cross stand by, as clothed with beauteous glory, what
further can he be able to object? Yea, the Lord will produce ten
thousand of his saints at his coming, who shall after this manner execute
judgment upon all, and so convince all that are ungodly among them, of
all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
And these are hard speeches against him, to say that he was not able or
willing to save men, because of the greatness of their sins, or to say
that they were discouraged by his word from repentance, because of the
heinousness of their offences.
These things, I say, shall then be confuted: he comes with ten thousand
of his saints to confute them, and to stop their mouths from making
objections against their own eternal damnation.
Here is Adam, the destroyer of the world; here is Lot, that lay with both
his daughters; here is Abraham, that was sometime an idolater, and Jacob,
that was a supplanter, and Reuben, that lay with his father’s concubine,
and Judah that lay with his daughter-in-law, and Levi and Simeon that
wickedly slew thee Shechemites, and Aaron that great backslider, and
Manassah that man of blood and that made an idol to be worshipped, and
that proclaimed a religious feast unto it. Here is also Rachab the
harlot, and Bathsheba that bare a bastard to David. Here is Solomon a
witch. Time would fail me to tell you of the woman of Canaan’s daughter,
Magdalen, of Matthew the publican, and of Gideon and Sampson, and many
thousands more.
Alas! alas! I say, what will these sinners do, that have, through their
unbelief, eclipsed the glorious largeness of the mercy of God, and gave
way to despair of salvation, because of the bigness of their sins?
For all these, though now glorious saints in light, were sometimes
sinners of the biggest size, who had sins that were of a notorious hue;
yet now, I say, they are in their shining and heavenly robes before the
throne of God and of the Lamb, blessing for ever and ever that Son of God
for their salvation, who died for them upon the tree; admiring that ever
it should come into their hearts once to think of coming to God by
Christ; but above all, blessing God for granting of them light to see
those encouragements in his testament; without which, without doubt, they
had been daunted and sunk down under guilt of sin and despair, as their
fellow-sinners have done.
But now they also are witnesses for God, and for his grace against an
unbelieving world; for, as I said, they shall come to convince the world
of their speeches, their hard and unbelieving words, that they have
spoken concerning the mercy of God, and the merits of the passion of his
blessed Son Jesus Christ.
But will it not, think you, strangely put to silence all such thoughts,
and words, and reasonings of the ungodly before the bar of God?
Doubtless it will; yea and will send them away from his presence also,
with the greatest guilt that possibly can fasten upon the consciences of
men.
For what will sting like this?—I have, through mine own foolish, narrow,
unworthy, undervaluing thoughts, of the love and ability of Christ to
save me, brought myself to everlasting ruin. It is true, I was a
horrible sinner; not one in a hundred did live so vile a life as I: but
this should not have kept me from closing with Jesus Christ: I see now
that there are abundance in glory that once were as bad as I have been:
but they were saved by faith, and I am damned by unbelief.
Wretch that I am! why did not I give glory to the redeeming blood of
Jesus? Why did I not humbly cast my soul at his blessed footstool for
mercy? Why did I judge of his ability to save me by the voice of my
shallow reason, and the voice of a guilty conscience? Why betook not I
myself to the holy word of God? Why did I not read and pray that I might
understand, since now I perceive that God said then, he giveth liberally
to them that pray, and upbraideth not; Jam. i. 5.
It is rational to think, that by such cogitations as these the
unbelieving world will be torn in pieces before the judgment of Christ;
especially those that have lived where they did or might have heard the
gospel of the grace of God. Oh! that saying, “It shall be more tolerable
for Sodom at the judgment than for them,” will be better understood. See
Luke x. 8–12.
This reason, therefore, standeth fast; namely, that Christ, by offering
mercy in the first place to the biggest sinner now, will stop all mouths
of the impenitent at the day of judgment, and cut off all excuse that
shall be attempted to be made (from the thoughts of the greatness of
their sins) why they came not to him.
I have often thought of the day of judgment, and how God will deal with
sinners at that day; and I believe it will be managed with that
sweetness, with that equitableness, with that excellent righteousness, as
to every sin, and circumstance, and aggravation thereof; that men that
are damned, before the judgment is over shall receive such conviction of
the righteous judgment of God upon them, and of their deserts of
hell-fire, that they shall in themselves conclude that there is all the
reason in the world that they should be shut out of heaven, and go to
hell-fire: “These shall go away into everlasting punishment;” Matt. xxv.
46.
Only this will tear them, that they have missed of mercy and glory, and
obtained everlasting damnation through their unbelief; but it will tear
but themselves, but their own souls; they will gnash upon themselves; for
in that mercy was offered to the chief of them in the first place, and
yet they were damned for rejecting of it; they were damned for forsaking
what they had a sort of propriety in; for forsaking their own mercy.
And thus much for the reasons. I will conclude with a word of
application.
THE APPLICATION.
_First_, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered in the first place to the
biggest sinners? then this shews us how to make a right judgment of the
heart of Christ to men. Indeed we have advantage to guess at the
goodness of his heart, by many things; as by his taking our nature upon
him, his dying for us, his sending his word and ministers to us, and all
that we might be saved. But this of beginning to offer mercy to
Jerusalem, is that which heightens all the rest; for this doth not only
confirm to us, that love was the cause of his dying for us, but it shews
us yet more the depth of that love. He might have died for us, and yet
have extended the benefit of his death to a few, as one might call them,
of the best conditioned sinners, to those who, though they were weak, and
could not but sin, yet made not a trade of sinning; to those that sinned
not lavishingly. There are in the world, as one may call them, the
moderate sinners; the sinners that mix righteousness with their
pollutions; the sinners that though they be sinners, do what on their
part lies (some that are blind would think so) that they might be saved.
I say, it had been love, great love, if he had died for none but such,
and sent his love to such: but that he should send out conditions of
peace to the biggest of sinners; yea, that they should be offered to them
first of all; (for so he means when he says, “Begin at Jerusalem;”) this
is wonderful! this shews his heart to purpose, as also the heart of God
his Father, who sent him to do thus.
There is nothing more incident to men that are awake in their souls, than
to have wrong thoughts of God; thoughts that are narrow, and that pinch
and pen up his mercy to scanty and beggarly conclusions, and rigid legal
conditions; supposing that it is rude, and an intrenching upon his
majesty, to come ourselves, or to invite others, until we have scraped
and washed, and rubbed off as much of our dirt from us as we think is
convenient, to make us somewhat orderly and handsome in his sight. Such
never knew what these words meant, “Begin at Jerusalem:” yea, such in
their hearts have compared the Father and his Son to niggardly rich men,
whose money comes from them like drops of blood. True, says such, God
has mercy, but he is loath to part with it; you must please him well, if
you get any from him; he is not so free as many suppose, nor is he so
willing to save as some pretended gospellers imagine. But I ask such, if
the Father and Son be not unspeakably free to shew mercy, why was this
clause put into our commission to preach the gospel? Yea, why did he
say, “Begin at Jerusalem:” for when men, through the weakness of their
wits, have attempted to shew other reasons why they should have the first
proffer of mercy; yet I can prove (by many undeniable reasons) that they
of Jerusalem (to whom the apostles made the first offer, according as
they were commanded) were the biggest sinners that ever did breathe upon
the face of God’s earth, (set the unpardonable sin aside), upon which my
doctrine stands like a rock, that Jesus the Son of God would have mercy
in the first place offered to the biggest sinners: and if this doth not
shew the heart of the Father and the Son to be infinitely free in
bestowing forgiveness of sins, I confess myself mistaken.
Neither is there, set this aside, another argument like it, to shew us
the willingness of Christ to save sinners; for, as was said before, all
the rest of the signs of Christ’s mercifulness might have been limited to
sinners that are so and so qualified; but when he says, “Begin at
Jerusalem,” the line is stretched out to the utmost: no man can imagine
beyond it; and it is folly here to pinch and pare, to narrow, and seek to
bring it within scanty bounds; for he plainly saith, “Begin at
Jerusalem,” the biggest sinner is the biggest sinner; the biggest is the
Jerusalem sinner.
It is true, he saith, that repentance and remission of sins must go
together, but yet remission is sent to the chief, the Jerusalem sinner;
nor doth repentance lessen at all the Jerusalem sinner’s crimes; it
diminisheth none of his sins, nor causes that there should be so much as
half a one the fewer: it only puts a stop to the Jerusalem sinner’s
course, and makes him willing to be saved freely by grace; and for time
to come to be governed by that blessed word that has brought the tidings
of good things to him.
Besides, no man shews himself willing to be saved that repenteth not of
his deeds; for he that goes on still in his trespasses, declares that he
is resolved to pursue his own damnation further.