of his grace and mercy: he proffers that in the first place to the
biggest sinners, that others may take heart to come to him to be
saved. I will give you a scripture or two, I mean to show you that
Christ, by commanding that his mercy should in the first place be
offered to the biggest of sinners, has a design thereby to encourage
and provoke others to come also to him for mercy.

"God," saith Paul, "who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); and hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus." But why did he do all this? "That in the ages to come he
might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards
us through Christ Jesus;" Eph. ii. 4-7.

See, here is a design; God lets out his mercy to Ephesus of design,
even to shew to the ages to come the exceeding riches of his grace,
in his kindness to them through Christ Jesus. And why to shew by
these the exceeding riches of his grace to the ages to come, through
Christ Jesus, but to allure them, and their children also, to come to
him, and to partake of the same grace through Christ Jesus?

But what was Paul, and the Ephesian sinners? (of Paul we will speak
anon). These Ephesian sinners, they were men dead in sins, men that
walked according to the dictates and motions of the devil;
worshippers of Diana, that effeminate goddess; men far off from God,
aliens and strangers to all good things; such as were far off from
that, as I said, and consequently in a most deplorable condition. As
the Jerusalem sinners were of the highest sort among the Jews, so
these Ephesian sinners were of the highest sort among the Gentiles;