the biggest sinners, to the Jerusalem sinners? Then, by this also, you
must learn to judge of the sufficiency of the merits of Christ; not
that the merits of Christ can be comprehended, for that they are beyond
the conceptions of the whole world, being called ‘the unsearchable
riches of Christ’; but yet they may be apprehended to a considerable
degree. Now, the way to apprehend them most, is, to consider what
offers, after his resurrection, he makes of his grace to sinners; for
to be sure he will not offer beyond the virtue of his merits; because,
as grace is the cause of his merits, so his merits are the basis and
bounds upon and by which his grace stands good, and is let out to
sinners. Doth he then command that his mercy should be offered, in the
first place, to the biggest sinners? It declares, that there is a
sufficiency in his blood to save the biggest sinners. ‘The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.’ And again, ‘Be it known unto you,
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man [this man’s merits]
is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that
believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be
justified by the law of Moses’ (Acts 13:38).
Observe, then, thy rule to make judgment of the sufficiency of the
blessed merits of thy Saviour. If he had not been able to have
reconciled the biggest sinners to his Father by his blood, he would not
have sent to them, have sent to them in the first place, the doctrine
of remission of sins; for remission of sins is through faith in his
blood. We are justified freely by the grace of God, through the
redemption that is in the blood of Christ. Upon the square, as I may
call it, of the worthiness of the blood of Christ, grace acts, and
offers forgiveness of sin to men (Eph 1:7; 2:13,14; Col 1:20-22).
Hence, therefore, we must gather, that the blood of Christ is of
infinite value, for that he offereth mercy to the biggest of sinners.
Nay, further, since he offereth mercy, in the first place, to the
biggest sinners, considering also, that this first act of his is that
which the world will take notice of, and expect it should be continued
unto the end. Also it is a disparagement to a man that seeks his own
glory in what he undertakes, to do that for a spurt, which he cannot
continue and hold out in. This is our Lord’s own argument, He began to
build, saith he, but was not able to finish (Luke 14:30).
Shouldst thou hear a man say, I am resolved to be kind to the poor, and
should begin with giving handfuls of guineas, you would conclude, that
either he is wonderful rich, or must straiten his hand, or will soon be
at the bottom of his riches. Why, this is the case: Christ, at his
resurrection, gave it out that he would be good to the world; and first
sends to the biggest sinners, with an intent to have mercy on them.
Now, the biggest sinners cannot be saved but by abundance of grace; it
is not a little that will save great sinners (Rom 5:17). And I say
again, since the Lord Jesus mounts thus high at the first, and sends to
the Jerusalem sinners, that they may come first to partake of his
mercy, it follows, that either he has unsearchable riches of grace and
worth in himself, or else he must straiten his hand, or his grace and
merits will be spent before the world is at an end. But let it be
believed, as surely as spoken, he is still as full as ever. He is not a
jot the poorer for all the forgiveness that he has given away to great
sinners. Also he is still as free as at first; for he never yet called
back this word, Begin at the Jerusalem sinners. And, as I said, since
his grace is extended according to the worth of his merits. I conclude,
that there is the same virtue in his merits to save now, as there was
at the very beginning, Oh! the riches of the grace of Christ! Oh! the
riches of the blood of Christ!
Third, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered in the first place to the
biggest sinners? Then here is encouragement for you that think, for
wicked hearts and lives, you have not your fellows in the world, yet to
come to him.
There is a people that therefore fear lest they should be rejected of
Jesus Christ, because of the greatness of their sins; when, as you see
here, such are sent to, sent to by Jesus Christ, to come to him for
mercy: ‘Begin at Jerusalem.’ Never did one thing answer another more
fitly in this world, than this text fitteth such a kind of sinners. As
face answereth face in a glass, so this text answereth the necessities
of such sinners. What can a man say more, but that he stands in the
rank of the biggest sinners? let him stretch himself whither he can,
and think of himself to the utmost, he can but conclude himself to be
one of the biggest sinners. And what then? Why, the text meets him in
the very face, and saith, Christ offereth mercy to the biggest sinners,
to the very Jerusalem sinners. What more can be objected? Nay, he doth
not only offer to such his mercy, but to them it is commanded to be
offered in the first place: ‘Begin at Jerusalem.’ ‘Preach repentance
and remission of sins among all nations: beginning at Jerusalem.’ Is
not here encouragement for those that think, for wicked hearts and
lives, they have not their fellows in the world?
Objection. But I have a heart as hard as a rock.
Answer. Well, but this doth but prove thee a biggest sinner.
Objection. But my heart continually frets against the Lord.
Answer. Well, this doth but prove thee a biggest sinner.
Objection. But I have been desperate in sinful courses.
Answer. Well, stand thou with the number of the biggest sinners.
Objection. But my gray head is found in the way of wickedness.
Answer. Well, thou art in the rank of the biggest sinners.
Objection. But I have not only a base heart, but I have lived a
debauched life.
Answer. Stand thou also among those that are called the biggest
sinners. And what then? Why, the text swoops you all; you cannot object
yourselves beyond the text. It has a particular message to the biggest
sinners. I say, it swoops you all.26
Objection. But I am a reprobate.
Answer. Now thou talkest like a fool, and meddlest with what thou
understandest not: no sin, but the sin of final impenitence, can prove
a man a reprobate; and I am sure thou hast not arrived as yet unto
that; therefore thou understandest not what thou sayest, and makest
groundless conclusions against thyself. Say thou art a sinner, and I
will hold with thee; say thou art a great sinner, and I will say so
too; yea, say thou art one of the biggest sinners, and spare not; for
the text yet is beyond thee, is yet betwixt hell and thee; ‘Begin at
Jerusalem’ has yet a smile upon thee; and thou talkest as if thou wast
a reprobate, and that the greatness of thy sins do prove thee so to be,
when yet they of Jerusalem were not such, whose sins, I dare say, were
such, both for bigness and heinousness, as thou art not capable of
committing beyond them; unless now, after thou hast received conviction
that the Lord Jesus is the only Saviour of the world, thou shouldst
wickedly and despitefully turn thyself from him, and conclude he is not
to be trusted to for life, and so crucify him for a cheat afresh. This,
I must confess, will bring a man under the black rod, and set him in
danger of eternal damnation (Heb 6:7,8; 10:8,9). This is trampling
under foot the Son of God, and counting his blood an unholy thing. This
did they of Jerusalem; but they did it ignorantly in unbelief, and so
were yet capable of mercy; but to do this against professed light, and
to stand to it, puts a man beyond the text indeed (Acts 3:14-17; 1 Tim
1:13).
But I say, what is this to him that would fain be saved by Christ? His
sins did, as to greatness, never yet reach to the nature of the sins
that the sinners intended by the text had made themselves guilty of. He
that would be saved by Christ, has an honourable esteem of him; but
they of Jerusalem preferred a murderer before him; and as for him, they
cried, Away, away with him, it is not fit that he should live. Perhaps
thou wilt object, That thyself hast a thousand times preferred a
stinking lust before him: I answer, Be it so; it is but what is common
to men to do; nor doth the Lord Jesus make such a foolish life a bar to
thee, to forbid thy coming to him, or a bond to his grace, that it
might be kept from thee; but admits of thy repentance, and offereth
himself unto thee freely, as thou standest among the Jerusalem sinners.
Take therefore encouragement, man; mercy is, by the text, held forth to
the biggest sinners; yea, put thyself into the number of the worst, by
reckoning that thou mayest be one of the first, and mayest not be put
off till the biggest sinners are served; for the biggest sinners are
first invited; consequently, if they come, they are like to be the
first that shall be served. It was so with Jerusalem; Jerusalem sinners
were they that were first invited, and those of them that came
first—and there came three thousand of them the first day they were
invited; how many came afterwards none can tell—they were first served.
Put in thy name, man, among the biggest, lest thou art made to wait
till they are served. You have some men that think themselves very
cunning, because they put up their names in their prayers among them
that feign it, saying, God, I thank thee I am not so bad as the worst.
But believe it, if they be saved at all, they shall be saved in the
last place. The first in their own eyes shall be served last; and the
last or worst shall be first. The text insinuates it, ‘Begin at
Jerusalem’; and reason backs it, for they have most need. Behold ye,
therefore, how God’s ways are above ours; we are for serving the worst
last, God is for serving the worst first. The man at the pool, that to
my thinking was longest in his disease, and most helpless as to his
cure, was first healed; yea, he only was healed; for we read that
Christ healed him, but we read not then that he healed one more there!
(John 5:1-10). Wherefore, if thou wouldst soonest be served, put in thy
name among the very worst of sinners. Say, when thou art upon thy
knees, Lord, here is a Jerusalem sinner! a sinner of the biggest size!
one whose burden is of the greatest bulk and heaviest weight! one that
cannot stand long without sinking into hell, without thy supporting
hand! ‘Be not thou far from me, O Lord! O my strength, haste thee to
help me!’ (Psa 22:19).
I say, put in thy name with Magdalene, with Manasseh, that thou mayest
fare as the Magdalene and the Manasseh sinners do. The man in the
gospel made the desperate condition of his child an argument with
Christ to haste his cure: ‘Sire, come down,’ saith he, ‘ere my child
die’ (John 4:49), and Christ regarded his haste, saying, ‘Go thy way;
thy son liveth’ (verse 50). Haste requires haste. David was for speed;
‘Deliver me speedily’; ‘Hear me speedily’; ‘Answer me speedily’ (Psa
31:2; 69:17; 102:2). But why speedily? I am in ‘the net’; ‘I am in
trouble’; ‘My days are consumed like smoke’ (Psa 31:4; 69:17; 102:3).
Deep calleth unto deep, necessity calls for help; great necessity for
present help. Wherefore, I say, be ruled by me in this matter; feign
not thyself another man, if thou hast been a filthy sinner, but go in
thy colours to Jesus Christ, and put thyself among the most vile, and
let him alone to ‘put thee among the children’ (Jer 3:19). Confess all
that thou knowest of thyself; I know thou wilt find it hard work to do
thus: especially if thy mind be legal; but do it, lest thou stay and be
deferred with the little sinners, until the great ones have had their
alms. What do you think David intended when he said, his wounds stunk
and were corrupted, but to hasten God to have mercy upon him, and not
to defer his cure? ‘Lord,’ says he, ‘I am troubled; I am bowed down
greatly; I go mourning all the day long.’ ‘I am feeble and sore broken:
I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart’ (Psa 38:3-8).
David knew what he did by all this; he knew that his making the worst
of his case, was the way to speedy help, and that a feigning and
dissembling the matter with God, was the next way to a demur as to his
forgiveness.
I have one thing more to offer for thy encouragement, who deemest
thyself one of the biggest sinners; and that is, thou art as it were
called by thy name, in the first place, to come in for mercy. Thou man
of Jerusalem, hearken to thy call; men do so in courts of judicature,
and presently cry out, ‘Here, Sire’; and then they shoulder and crowd,
and say, ‘Pray give way, I am called into the court.’ Why, this is thy
case, thou great, thou Jerusalem sinner; be of good cheer, he calleth
thee (Mark 10:46-49). Why sittest thou still? arise: why standest thou
still? come, man, thy call should give thee authority to come. ‘Begin
at Jerusalem,’ is thy call and authority to come; wherefore up and
shoulder it, man; say, ‘Stand away, devil, Christ calls me; stand away
unbelief, Christ calls me; stand away, all ye my discouraging
apprehensions, for my Saviour calls me to him to receive of his mercy.’
Men will do thus, as I said, in courts below; and why shouldst not thou
approach thus to the court above? The Jerusalem sinner is first in
thought, first in commission, first in the record of names; and
therefore should give attendance, with the expectation that he is first
to receive mercy of God.
Is not this an encouragement to the biggest sinners to make their
application to Christ for mercy? ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden,’ doth also confirm this thing; that is, that the
biggest sinner, and he that has the biggest burden, is he who is first
invited. Christ pointeth over the heads of thousands, as he sits on the
throne of grace, directly to such a man; and says, ‘Bring in hither the
maimed, the halt, and the blind; let the Jerusalem sinner that stands
there behind come to me.’ Wherefore, since Christ says, ‘Come,’ to
thee, let the angels make a lane, and let all men give place, that the
Jerusalem sinner may come to Jesus Christ for mercy.
Fourth, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to
the biggest sinners? Then come, thou profane wretch, and let me a
little enter into an argument with thee. Why wilt thou not come to
Jesus Christ, since thou art a Jerusalem sinner? How canst thou find in
thy heart to set thyself against grace, against such grace as offereth
mercy to thee? What spirit possesseth thee, and holds thee back from a
sincere closure with thy Saviour? Behold, God groaningly complains of
thee, saying, ‘But Israel would none of me.’ ‘When I called, none did
answer’ (Psa 81:11; Isa 66:4).
Shall God enter this complaint against thee? Why dost thou put him off?
Why dost thou stop thine ear? Canst thou defend thyself? When thou art
called to an account for thy neglects of so great salvation, what canst
thou answer? or dost thou think that thou shalt escape the judgment?
(Heb 2:3). No more such Christs! There will be no more such Christs,
sinner! Oh, put not the day, the day of grace, away from thee! if it be
once gone, it will never come again, sinner.
But what is it that has got thy heart, and that keeps it from thy
Saviour? ‘Who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among
the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?’ (Psa 89:6). Hast
thou, thinkest thou, found anything so good as Jesus Christ? Is there
any among thy sins, thy companions, and foolish delights, that, like
Christ, can help thee in the day of thy distress? Behold, the greatness
of thy sins cannot hinder; let not the stubbornness of thy heart hinder
thee, sinner.
Objection. I am ashamed.
Answer. Oh! don’t be ashamed to be saved, sinner.
Objection. But my old companions will mock me.
Answer. Oh! don’t be mocked out of eternal life, sinner.
Thy stubbornness affects, afflicts the heart of thy Saviour. Carest
thou not for this? Of old, ‘he beheld the city, and wept over it.’
Canst thou hear this, and not be concerned? (Luke 19:41,42). Shall
Christ weep to see thy soul going on to destruction, and will though
sport thyself in that way? Yea, shall Christ, that can be eternally
happy without thee, be more afflicted at the thoughts of the loss of
thy soul, than thyself, who art certainly eternally miserable if thou
neglectest to come to him. Those things that keep thee and thy Saviour,
on thy part, asunder, are but bubbles; the least prick of an affliction
will let out, as to thee, what now thou thinkest is worth the venture
of heaven to enjoy.
Hast thou not reason? Canst thou not so much as once soberly think of
thy dying hour, or of whither thy sinful life will drive thee then?
Hast thou no conscience? or having one, is it rocked so fast asleep by
sin, or made so weary with an unsuccessful calling upon thee, that it
is laid down, and cares for thee no more? Poor man! thy state is to be
lamented. Hast no judgment? Art not able to conclude, that to be saved
is better than to burn in hell? and that eternal life with God’s
favour, is better than a temporal life in God’s displeasure? Hast no
affection but what is brutish? what, none at all? No affection for the
God that made thee? What! none for his loving Son that has showed his
love, and died for thee? Is not heaven worth thy affection? O poor man!
which is strongest, thinkest thou, God or thee? If thou art not able to
overcome him, thou art a fool for standing out against him (Matt
5:25,26). ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the living
God’ (Heb 10:29-31). He will gripe hard; his fist is stronger than a
lion’s paw; take heed of him, he will be angry if you despise his Son;
and will you stand guilty in your trespasses, when he offereth you his
grace and favour? (Exo 34:6,7).
Now we come to the text, ‘Beginning at Jerusalem.’ This text, though it
be now one of the brightest stars that shineth in the Bible, because
there is in it, as full, if not the fullest offer of grace that can be
imagined, to the sons of men; yet, to them that shall perish from under
this word, even this text will be to such one of the hottest coals in
hell. This text, therefore, will save thee or sink thee: there is no
shifting of it; if it saves thee, it will set thee high; if it sinks
thee, it will set thee low.
But, I say, why so unconcerned? Hast no soul? or dost think thou mayest
lose thy soul, and save thyself? Is it not pity, had it otherwise been
the will of God, that ever thou wast made a man, for that thou settest
so little by thy soul? Sinner, take the invitation; thou art called
upon to come to Christ: nor art thou called upon but by order from the
Son of God, though thou shouldst happen to come of the biggest sinners;
for he has bid us offer mercy, as to all the world in general, so, in
the first place, to the sinners of Jerusalem, or to the biggest
sinners.
Fifth, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to
the biggest sinners? Then, this shows how unreasonable a thing it is
for men to despair of mercy; for those that presume, I shall say
something to them afterward.
I now speak to them that despair. There are four sorts of despair.
There is the despair of devils; there is the despair of souls in hell;
there is the despair that is grounded upon men’s deficiency; and there
is the despair that they are perplexed with that are willing to be
saved, but are too strongly borne down with the burden of their sins.
The despair of devils, the damned’s despair, and that despair that a
man has of attaining of life because of his own deficiency, are all
reasonable. Why should not devils and damned souls despair? yea, why
should not man despair of getting to heaven by his own abilities? I,
therefore, am concerned only with the fourth sort of despair, to wit,
with the despair of those that would be saved, but are too strongly
borne down with the burden of their sins. I say, therefore, to thee
that art thus, And why despair? Thy despair, if it was reasonable,
should flow from thee, because found in the land that is beyond the
grave; or because thou certainly knowest that Christ will not, or
cannot save thee.
But, for the first, thou art yet in the land of the living; and, for
the second, thou hast ground to believe the quite contrary; Christ is
able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him; and if he
were not willing, he would not have commanded that mercy, in the first
place, should be offered to the biggest sinners. Besides, he hath said,
‘And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely’; that is, with all my heart. What ground now is
here for despair? If thou sayest, The number and burden of my sins; I
answer, Nay; that is rather a ground for faith; because such an one,
above all others, is invited by Christ to come unto him, yea, promised
rest and forgiveness if they come (Matt 11:28). What ground then to
despair? Verily, none at all. Thy despair, then, is a thing
unreasonable, and without footing in the Word.
But I have no experience of God’s love; God hath given me no comfort,
or ground of hope, though I have waited upon him for it many a day.
Thou hast experience of God’s love, for that he has opened thine eyes
to see thy sins: and for that he has given thee desires to be saved by
Jesus Christ. For by thy sense of sin thou art made to see thy poverty
of spirit, and that has laid under thee a sure ground to hope that
heaven shall be thine hereafter.
Also thy desires to be saved by Christ, has put thee under another
promise, so there is two to hold thee up in hope, though thy present
burden be never so heavy (Matt 5:3,6). As for what thou sayest as to
God’s silence to thee, perhaps he has spoken to thee once or twice
already, but thou hast not perceived it (Job 33:14,15). However, thou
hast Christ crucified set forth before thine eyes in the Bible, and an
invitation to come unto him, though thou be a Jerusalem sinner, though
thou be a biggest sinner; and so no ground to despair. What if God will
be silent to thee, is that ground of despair? Not at all, so long as
there is a promise in the Bible, that God will in no wise cast away the
coming sinner, and so long as he invites the Jerusalem sinner to come
unto him (John 6:37).
Build not, therefore, despair upon these things; they are no sufficient
foundation for it, such plenty of promises being in the Bible, and such
a discovery of his mercy to great sinners of old; especially since we
have withal a clause in the commission given to ministers to preach,
that they should begin with the Jerusalem sinners in their offering of
mercy to the world. Besides, God says, ‘They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like
eagles’; but, perhaps, it may be long first. I waited long, saith
David, and did seek the Lord; and, at length, his cry was heard:
wherefore he bids his soul wait on God, and says, For it is good so to
do before thy saints (Psa 40:1; 62:5; 52:9).
And what if thou waitest upon God all thy days? Is it below thee? And
what if God will cross his book, and blot out the handwriting that is
against thee, and not let thee know it as yet? Is it fit to say unto
God, Thou art hard-hearted? Despair not; thou hast no ground to
despair, so long as thou livest in this world. ’Tis a sin to begin to
despair before one sets his foot over the threshold of hell-gates. For
them that are there, let them despair and spare not; but as for thee,
thou hast no ground to do it. What! despair of bread in a land that is
full of corn! despair of mercy when our God is full of mercy! despair
of mercy, when God goes about, by his ministers, beseeching of sinners
to be reconciled unto him! (2 Cor 5:18-20). Thou scrupulous fool, where
canst thou find that God was ever false to his promise, or that he ever
deceived the soul that ventured itself upon him? He often calls upon
sinners to trust him, though they walk in darkness, and have no light
(Isa 50:10). They have his promise and oath for their salvation, that
flee for refuge to the hope set before them (Heb 6:17,18).
Despair! when we have a God of mercy, and a redeeming Christ alive! For
shame, forbear; let them despair that dwell where there is no God, and
that are confined to those chambers of death which can be reached by no
redemption. A living man despair when he is chid for murmuring and
complaining! (Lam 3:39). Oh! so long as we are where promises swarm,
where mercy is proclaimed, where grace reigns, and where Jerusalem
sinners are privileged with the first offer of mercy, it is a base
thing to despair. Despair undervalues the promise, undervalues the
invitation, undervalues the proffer of grace. Despair undervalues the
ability of God the Father, and the redeeming blood of Christ his Son.
Oh unreasonable despair! Despair makes man God’s judge; it is a
controller of the promise, a contradictor of Christ in his large offers
of mercy: and one that undertakes to make unbelief the great manager of
our reason and judgment, in determining about what God can and will do
for sinners. Despair! It is the devil’s fellow, the devil’s master;
yea, the chains with which he is captivated and held under darkness for
ever: and to give way thereto in a land, in a state and time that flows
with milk and honey, is an uncomely thing.