The Jerusalem Sinner Saved; or, Good News for the Vilest of Men

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. iii. 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, by reason of the disquietness of my heart;” Psalm xxxviii. 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, Sir; and then they shoulder and crowd, and say, Pray give way, I am called into the court.  Why, this thy case, thou great, thou Jerusalem sinner; be of good cheer, he calleth thee; Mark x. 46–49.  Why sitttest 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 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 thee angels make a lane, and let all men give place, that the Jerusalem sinner may come to Jesus Christ for mercy.

Fourthly, 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;” Psl. lxxxi. 11; Isa. lxvi. 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 doest thou think thou shalt escape the judgment?  Heb. ii. 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?”  Psl. lxxxix. 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.

Object.  But I am ashamed.

Answ.  Oh!  Do not be ashamed to be saved, sinner.

Object.  But my old companions will mock me.

Answ.  Oh!  Do not 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 xix. 41, 42.  Shall Christ weep to see thy soul going on to destruction, and wilt thou 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 shewed 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. v. 25, 26.  “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  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?  Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7; Heb. x. 29–31.

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 mayst 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.

Fifthly, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered in thee first place, to the biggest sinners? then this shews 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 burthen 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 unreasonable.  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 were 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 sayst, 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. xi. 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 thee under 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 them, though thy present burden be never so heavy, Matt. v. 3, 6.  As for what thou sayst, as to God’s silence to thee, perhaps he has spoken to thee once or twice already, but thou hast not perceived it; Job xxxiii. 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 the 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 vi. 37.

Build not therefore despair upon these things; they are no sufficient foundations 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; Psalm xl. 1; lxii. 5; lii. 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 hand-writing 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.  It is 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. v. 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. 1. 10.

They have his promise and oath for their salvation, that flee for refuge to the hope set before them; Heb. vi. 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. iii. 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 contradicter 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.

I would say to my soul, O my soul! this is not the place of despair; this is not the time to despair in: as long as mine eyes can find a promise in the Bible, as long as there is the least mention of grace, as long as there is a moment left me of breath or life in this world; so long will I wait or look for mercy, so long will I fight against unbelief and despair.

This is the way to honour God and Christ; this is the way to set the crown on the promise; this is the way to welcome the invitation and inviter; and this is the way to thrust thyself under the shelter and protection of the word of grace.  Never despair so long as our text is alive, for that doth sound it out,—that mercy by Christ is offered, in the first place, to the biggest sinner.

Despair is an unprofitable thing; it will make a man weary of waiting upon God; 2 Kings vi. 33; it will make a man forsake God, and seek his heaven in the good things of this world; Gen. iv. 13–18.  It will make a man his own tormentor, and flounce and fling like a wild bull in a net; Isa. ii. 20.

Despair! it drives a man to the study of his own ruin, and brings him at last to be his own executioner; 2 Sam. xvii. 23; Matt. xxvii. 3–5.

Besides, I am persuaded also, that despair is the cause that there are so many that would fain be Atheists in the world: For because they have entertained a conceit that God will never be merciful to them; therefore they labour to persuade themselves that there is no God at all, as if their misbelief would kill God, or cause him to cease to be.  A poor shift for an immortal soul, for a soul who liketh not to retain God in its knowledge!  If this be the best that despair can do, let it go, man, and betake thyself to faith, to prayer, to wait for God, and to hope, in despite of ten thousand doubts.  And for thy encouragement, take yet (as an addition to what has already been said) the following scripture; “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy;” Psal. cxlvii. 11.

Whence note, They fear not God, that hope not in his mercy: also God is angry with them that hope not in his mercy: for he only taketh pleasure in them that hope.  He that believeth, or hath received his testimony, “hath set to his seal that God is true,” John iii. 33; but he that receiveth it not hath made him a liar, and that is a very unworthy thing; 1 John v. 10, 11.  “Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly multiply pardons.”  Perhaps thou art weary of thy ways, but art not weary of thy thoughts, of thy unbelieving and despairing thoughts; now, God also would have thee cast away these thoughts, as such which he deserveth not at thy hands; for he will have mercy upon thee, and he will abundantly pardon.

“O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” Luke xxiv. 25.  Mark you here, slowness to believe is a piece of folly.  Ay! but sayst thou, I do believe some, and I believe what can make against me.  Ay, but sinner, Christ Jesus here calls thee fool for not believing all.  Believe all, and despair if thou canst.  He that believes all, believes that text that saith, Christ would have mercy preached first to the Jerusalem sinners.  He that believeth all, believeth all the promises and consolations of the word; and the promises and consolations of the word weigh heavier than do all the curses and threatenings of the law; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.  Wherefore believe all, and mercy will to thy conscience weigh judgment down, and so minister comfort to thy soul.  The Lord take the yoke from off thy jaws, since he has set meat before thee; Hos. xi. 4; and help thee to remember that he is pleased in the first place to offer mercy to the biggest sinners.

Sixthly, Since Jesus Christ would have mercy offered in the first place to the biggest sinners, let souls see that they lay right hold thereof, lest they, notwithstanding, indeed come short thereof.  Faith only knows how to deal with mercy; wherefore put not in the place thereof presumption.  I have observed, that as there are herbs and flowers in our gardens, so there are their counterfeits in the field; only they are distinguished from the other by the name of wild ones.  Why, there is faith, and wild faith; and wild faith is this presumption.  I call it wild faith, because God never placed it in his garden, his church; it is only to be found in the field, the world.  I also call it wild faith, because it only grows up and is nourished where other wild notions abound.  Wherefore take heed of this, and all may be well; for this presumuptuousness is a very heinous thing in the eyes of God: “The soul,” saith he, “that doeth ought presumptuously (whether he be born in the land, or a stranger), the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people;” Numb. xv. 30.

The thoughts of this made David tremble, and pray that God would hold him back from presumptuous sins, and not suffer them to have dominion over him; Psal. xix. 13.

Now this presumption, then, puts itself in the place of faith, when it tampereth with the promise for life, while the soul is a stranger to repentance.  Wherefore you have in the text, to prevent doing thus, both repentance and remission of sins to be offered to Jerusalem; not remission without repentance: for all that repent not shall perish, let them presume on grace and the promise while they will; Luke xiii. 1–3.