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The Jerusalem Sinner Saved; or, Good News for the Vilest of Men By: John Bunyan (1628-1688) |
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THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED;
or,
GOOD NEWS FOR THE VILEST OF MEN by John Bunyan BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM. Luke xxiv. 47. The whole verse runs thus: "And that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem." The words were spoken by Christ, after he rose from the dead, and
they are here rehearsed after an historical manner, but do contain in
them a formal commission, with a special clause therein. The
commission is, as you see, for the preaching of the gospel, and is
very distinctly inserted in the holy record by Matthew and Mark. "Go
teach all nations," &c. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel unto every creature." Matt. xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 15. Only
this cause is in special mentioned by Luke, who saith, That as Christ
would have the doctrine of repentance and remission of sins preached
in his name among all nations, so he would have the people of
Jerusalem to have the first proffer thereof. Preach it, saith
Christ, in all nations, but begin at Jerusalem. The apostles then, though they had a commission so large as to give
them warrant to go and preach the gospel in all the world, yet by
this clause they were limited as to the beginning of their ministry:
they were to begin this work at Jerusalem. "Beginning at Jerusalem." Before I proceed to an observation upon the words, I must (but
briefly) touch upon two things: namely, I. Show you what Jerusalem now was. II. Show you what it was to preach the gospel to them. I. For the first, Jerusalem is to be considered, either, 1. With respect to the descent of her people: or, 2. With respect to her preference and exaltation: or, 3. With respect to her present state, as to her decays. First, As to her descent: she was from Abraham, the sons of Jacob, a
people that God singled out from the rest of the nations to set his
love upon them. Secondly, As to her preference or exaltation, she was the place of
God's worship, and that which had in and with her the special tokens
and signs of God's favour and presence, above any other people in the
world. Hence the tribes went up to Jerusalem to worship; there was
God's house, God's high priest, God's sacrifices accepted, and God's
eye, and God's heart perpetually; Psalm lxxvi. 1, 2; Psalm cxxii.; 1
Kings ix. 3. But, Thirdly, We are to consider Jerusalem also in her decays; for as she
is so considered, she is the proper object of our text, as will be
further showed by and by. Jerusalem, as I told you, was the place and seat of God's worship,
but now decayed, degenerated, and apostatized. The word, the rule of
worship, was rejected of them, and in its place they had put and set
up their own traditions; they had rejected also the most weighty
ordinances, and put in the room thereof their own little things,
Matt. xv.; Mark vii. Jerusalem was therefore now greatly
backsliding, and become the place where truth and true religion were
much defaced. It was also now become the very sink of sin and seat of hypocrisy,
and gulf where true religion was drowned. Here also now reigned
presumption, and groundless confidence in God, which is the bane of
souls. Amongst its rulers, doctors, and leaders, envy, malice, and
blasphemy vented itself against the power of godliness, in all places
where it was espied; as also against the promoters of it; yea, their
Lord and Maker could not escape them. In a word, Jerusalem was now become the shambles, the very slaughter
shop for saints. This was the place wherein the prophets, Christ,
and his people, were most horribly persecuted and murdered. Yea, so
hardened at this time was this Jerusalem in her sins, that she feared
not to commit the biggest, and to bind herself by wish under the
guilt and damning evil of it; saying, when she had murdered the Son
of God, "His blood be upon us and our children." And though Jesus Christ did, both by doctrine, miracles, and holiness
of life, seek to put a stop to their villanies, yet they shut their
eyes, stopped their ears, and rested not, till, as was hinted before,
they had driven him out of the world... Continue reading book >>
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