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A30160
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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.
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Bunyan, John, 1628-1688.
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1689
(1689)
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Wing B5545; ESTC R27236
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74,451
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194
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his strait he betook him to consideration of the good that there was in his Fathers House yea he resolved to home to his Father and his Faâ—her dealt well with him he received him with Musick and Dancing because he had received him safe and sound Luk. 15.14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 32. 6. Hast thou any inticing touches of the word of God upon thy mind Doth as it were some holy word of God give a glance upon thee cast a smile upon thee let fall though it be but one drop of its savour upon thy Spirit yea though it staies but one moment with thee O! then the day of Grace is not past The Gate of Heaven is not shut Nor God's Heart and Bowels withdrawn from thee as yet Take heed therefore and beware that thou make much of the Heavenly Gift and of that good word of God of the which he has made thee tast Beware I say and take heed there may be a falling away for all this but I say as yet God has not left thee as yet he has not cast thee off Hâ—b 6.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Secâ—ndly With respect to thy desires what are they Wouldst thou be saved Wouldst thou be saved with a thorow salvation Wouldst thou be saved from guilt and filth too Wouldst thou be the servant of thy Saviour Art thou indeed weary of the service of thâ— old Master the Devil Sin and the World And has these desires put thy Soul to the flight Hast thou through desires betaken thy self to thy heels Dost fly to him that is a Saviour from the wrath to come for life If these be thy desires and if they be unfeigned fear not Thou art one of those Runaways which God has commanded our Lord to receive and not to send thee back to the Devil thy Master again but to give thee a place in his House even the place which liketh thee best Thou shalt not deliver to his Master saies he the Servant which is escaped from his Master unto thee He shall dwell with thee even among you in that place which he shall chuse in one of thy Gates where it liketh him best thou shall not oppress him Deut. 23.15 16. This is a command to the Church consequently to the Head of the Church for all commands from God come to her through her Head. Whence I conclude that that as Israel of old was to receive the Runaway-Servant who escaped from a Heathen Master to them and should not dare to send him back to his Master again So Christ's Church now and consequently Christ himself may not will not refuse that soul that has made his escape from Sin Satan the World and Hell unto him but will certainly let him dwell in his House among his Saints in that place which he shall choose even where it liketh him best For he saies in another place And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out In no wise let his crimes be what they will either for nature multitude or the attendance of aggravating circumstances Wherefore if thy desires be firm sound unfeigned to become the saved of Christ and his servant Fear not he will not he will in no wise put thee away or turn thee over to thy old Mâ—ster again Thirdly As to thy fears whatever they are let that be supposed which is supposed before and they are groundless and so of no weight Object But I am afraid I am not elâ—ct or chosen to salvation though you called me fool a little before for so fearing Answ. Though election is in order before calling as to God yet the knowledge of Calling must go before the belief of my Election as to my self Wherefore souls that doubt of the truth of their Effectual Calling do but plunge themselves into a deeper labyrinth of confusion that concern themselves with their election I mean while they labour to know it before they prove their Calling Make your Calling and so your Election sure 2 Pet. 1.4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Wherefore at present lay the thoughts of thy Election by and ask thy self these questions Do I see my lost condition Do I see salvation is no where but in Christ Would I share in this salvation by Faith of him And would I as was said afore be throughly saved to wit from the filth as from the guilt Do I love Christ his Father his Saints his Word and Ways This is the way to prove we are Elect. Wherefore sinner when Satan or thine own heart seek to puzzle thee wiâ—h Election say thou I cannot tend to talk of this point now but stay till I know that I am called of God to the fellowship of his Son and then I will shew you that I am Elect and that my name is written in the Book of Life If poor distressed souls would observe this Order they might save themselves the trouble of an unprofitable lâ—bour under these unseasonâ—ble and Soâ—l-sinking doubts Let us therefore upon the sight of our wretchedness fly and venturously leap into the Arms of Christ which are now as open to receive us into his Bosom as they were when nailed to the Cross. This is coming to Christ for Life aright this is right running away from thy Master to him as was said before And for this we have multitudes of Scriptures to support incourage and comfort us in our so doing But now let him that doth thus be sure to look for it for Satan will be with him to morrow to see if he can get him again to his old service and if he cannot do that then will he enter into dispute with him to wit about whether he be elect to Life and called indeed to partake of this Christ to whom he is fled for succour or whether he comes to him of his own presumptuous Mind Therefore we are bid as to come so to Arm our selves with that Armour which God has provided that we may resist quench stand against and withstand all the Fiery Darts of the Devil Ephes. 6. 11 12 13 14 l5 16 17 18. If therefore thou findest Satan in this Order to march against thee remember that thou hadst this Item about it and betake thy self to Faith and good Courage and be sober and hope to the End. Object But how if I should have sinned the sin unpardonable or That called the sin against the Holy Ghost Answ. If thou hast thou art lost for ever But yet before it is concluded by thee that thou hast so sinned know that they that would be saved by Jesus Christ through faith in his blood cannot be counted for such l. Because of the Promise for that must not be frustrate And that saies And him that cometh to Christ he will in no wise cast And again Whoso will let him take of the Water of Life freely Joh. 6.37 Rev. 21 6. chap. 22.17 But I say how can these Scriptures be fulfilled if
render hatred for love and contempt for forgiveness so 't would be as ridiculous to think that the reception of a little kindness should lay the same obligations upon the heart to love as the reception of a great deal I would not disparage the love of Christ I know the least dram of it when it reaches to forgiveness is great above all the world But comparatively there iâ— greater extentions of the love of Chrisâ— to one than to another He that has most sin it forgiven is partaker of the greatest love of the greatest forgiveness I know also that there are some that from this very Doctrine say Let us do evil that good may come and that turn the Grace of our God into Lasciviousness But I speak not of these These will neither be ruled by Grace nor Reason Grace would teach them if they know it to deny Ungodly Courses and so would Reason too if it could truly sense the Love of God Tim. 2 11 1â— Rom. 11.1 Doth it look like what hath any Coherence with Reason or Mercy for a man to abuse his Friend Because Christ died for men shall I therefore Spit in his Face The Bread and Water that was given by Elisha to his Enemies that came the Land of Israel to take him had so mucâ— influence upon their Minds tho Heathens that they returned to their homes without hurting him Yea it kept them from coming again in a hostile manner into the Coasts of Israel 2 Kings 6.19 20 21 22 23. But to forbear to Illustrate till anon one reason why Châ—ist Jesus shews Mercy to Sinners is that he might obtain their Love that he may remove their base affections firm base objects to himself Now if he loves to be loved a little he loves to be loved much but there is not any that are capable of loving much save those that have much forgiven them Hence 't is said of Paul That he laboured more than them all to wit with a labour of love because he had been by Sin more vile against Christ than they all 1 Cor. 15. He it was that persecuted the Church of God and wasted it Gal. 1.13 He of them all was the only raving Bedlam against the Saints And being exceeding mad says he against them I persecuted them even to strange Cities Acts 26.11 This raving Bedlam that once was so is he that now says I laboured more than them all more for Christ than them all But Paul what moved thee thus to do The love of Christ says he It was not I but the grace of God that was with me As who should say O Grace 'T was such Grace to save me 'T was such marvelous Grace for God to look down from Heaven upon me and that secured me from the wrath to come that I am captivated with the sense of the richâ—s of it Hence I act hence I labour For how can I otherwise do since God not only separated me from my Sins and Companions but separated all the powers of my Soul and Body to his Service I am therefore prompted on by this exceeding love to labour as I have done yet not I but the grace of God with me Oh! I shall never forget his love nor the circumstances under which I was when his love laid hold upon me I was going to Damascus with Letters from the High Priest to make Havock of God's People there as I had made Havock of them in other places These bloody Letters was not imposed upon me I went to the High Priest and desired them of him Acts 9.1 2. And yet he saved me I was one of the men of the chief men that had a hand in the Blood of his Martyr Stephen yet he had mercy on me When I was at Damasâ—us I stunck so horribly like a Blood-sucker that I became a Terrour to all thereabout Yea Ananias good man made intercession to my Lord against me yet he would have mercy upon me Yea joyned mercy to mercy until he had made me a monument of Grace He made a Saint of the land perswaded me that my transgressions were forgiven me When I began to preach those that heard me were amazed and said Is not this he that destroyed them that called on tâ—is Name in Jerusalem and came hither for that intent that he might bring them bound to the High Pâ—iest Hell doth know that I was a Sinner Heaven doth know that I was a Singer Thâ— World also knows that I was a Sinner a Sinner of the greatest size but I obtained mercy Acts 9.20 21. Shall not this lay Obliâ—ation upon me Is not Love of the greatest force to oblige Is it not strong as Death Cruel as the Grave and hotter than the Coals of Juniper Hath it not a most vehement flame Can the Waters quench it Can the Floods drown it I am under the force of it and this is my continual cry What shall I render to the Lord for all the Benefits which he has bestowâ—d upon me Ay! Paul this is something thou speakest like a Man like a man affected and carried away with the love and graâ—e of God. Now this sense and this affection and this labour giveth to Christ the love that he looks for But he might have converted twenty little sinners and yet not found for grace bestowed â—o â—uch love in them all I wonder how far a man might go among the Converted Sinners of the smaller size before one could find one that so much as look any thing this wayward Where is he that is thus under pangs of love for the Grace bestowed upon him by Jesus Christ Excepting only some few you may walk to the Worlds end and find none But as I sail some there are and so there has been in every age of the Church great sinners that have had much forgiven them And they love much upon this account Jesus Christ therefore knows what he doth when he lays hold on the hearts of sinners of the biggest size He knows that such an one will love more than many that have not sinned half their sins I will tell you a Story that I have â—ead of Martha and Mary the Name of the Book I have forgot I mean of the Book in which I found the Relation but the thing was thus Martha saith my Author was a very holy Woman much like Lazarus her Brother but Mary was a loose and wanâ—on creature Martha did seldom miss good Sermons â—nd Lectures when she could come at them in Jerusalem but Mary would frequent the house of Sports and the company of the vilest of Men for lust And though Martha had often desired that her Sister would go with her to hear her Preachers Yea had often entreated her with Tears to do it yet could she never prevail for still Many would make her excuse or reject her with disdain for her Zeal and Preciseness in Religion After Martha had waited long tried many ways to bring her Sister to good and all