I have read of one Cains Marius Victorius, who was an old man, three hundred years after the apostles' time, and had been a pagan all his days, and in his old age he inquired and hearkened after Christ, and said he would be a Christian. Simplicianus hearing him say so, would not believe him, but when the church saw a work of grace indeed upon him, there was shouting and dancing for gladness, and psalms were sung in every church, Caius Marius Victorius is become a Christian. And this was written for a wonder, that he in his old age, and in his grey hairs, should become a gracious Christian.
Aretius also speaks of a certain man in his time. It is no feigned story, saith he, for I saw the man with my own e3Tcs: he was one that had been a most vile and desperate sinner, a drunkard, a swearer, a wanton, a gamester, and so he continued to his grey hairs ; but at last it pleased God to set his sins in order before him, and the man was so troubled in conscience that he threw himself down upon the ground, calling unto Satan to take him away, provoking Satan to take him away: Devil, take thy own ; devil, take thy own ; I am thy own, take thy own : where- upon, saith Aretius, prayer was made for him ; Christians prayed, they fasted and prayed, they prayed night and day; and it pleased God at last that this poor aged sinner revived, converted to God, lived a godly life afterwards, and died comfortably.
1 'Offers.' — G. 2 Matt. xx. 1-17. The Roman penny was sevenpence halfpenny. * Gen. xii. 4, John iii. 1-4, vii. 60.
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Therefore, let not the grey-headed sinner despair, though his spring be past, his summer overpast, and he arrived at the fall of the leaf But,
(3.) Thirdly, Divine promises shall be made good to returning souls, to repenting souls, to believing souls, be they young or old. 2 Chron. xxx. 9, ' The Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return unto him.' Joel ii. 13, ' And re'nd your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God ; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.' Isa. lv. 7, ' Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon:' or he will multiply to pardon. More of this you may see by reading of the scriptures in the margin.1 All sorts of sin shall be pardoned to all sorts of believing and repenting sinners.
The New Jerusalem hath twelve gates, to shew that there is every way access for all sorts and ranks of sinners to come to Christ. He was born in an inn, to shew that he receives all comers, young and old, poor and rich, &c. But,
(4.) Fourthly, The Lord hath declared by oath a greater delight in the conversion and salvation of poor sinners, whether they are young or old, than in the destruction and damnation of such. Ezek. xxxiii. 11, 'As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, O ye house of Israel ?' Two things make a thing more credible.
[1.] The quality or dignity of the person speaking.
[2.] The manner of the speech. Now here you have the great God, not only speaking, promising, but solemnly swearing that he had rather poor sinners should live than die, be happy than miserable ; therefore, despair not, O aged sinner! but return unto the Lord, and thou shalt be happy for ever. But,
(5.) Fifthly, There is virtue enough in the precious blood of Jesus Christ, to wash and cleanse away all sin;2 not only to cleanse away the young man's sins, but also to cleanse away the old man's sins ; not only to cleanse a sinner of twenty years, but to cleanse a sinner of fifty, sixty, yea, a hundred years old : 1 John i. 7, 'The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin ;' not simply from sin, but from all sin. There is such a power and efficacy in the blood of Christ, as is suffi- cient to cleanse all sorts of sinners from all sorts of sins. There is a virtue in the blood of the Lamb to wash out all the spots that are in the oldest sinners' hearts ; and therefore let not old sinners despair, let them not say there is no hope, there is no help, as long as this fountain, the blood of Jesus Christ, is open for all sorts of sinnei's to wash in. But,
(6.) Sixthly, The call and invitation of Christ in the gospel are general and indefinite, excluding no sort of sinners. Rev. iii. 20, ' Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man' (mark the inde-
1 Isa. i. 18; Jer. iii. 12; Isa. xliii. 22-25; lvii. 17, 18; Jer.li. 5; John iii. 16; Mark xvi. 16.
* Una guttida phis valet, quam ccelum et terra. — Luther, One little drop is more worth than heaven and earth.
278 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13.
finiteness of personal admittance) ' hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' Let the sinner be old or young, a green head, or a grey head, if he will but open the door, Christ will come in and have communion and fellowship with him. So in that Mat. xi. 28. Turn to these scriptures, Isa. lv. 1, John vii. 37, Rev. xxii. 17, and dwell upon them ; they all clearly evidence the call and gracious invitations of Christ to be to all sinners, to every sinner ; he excepts not a man, no, though never so old. Nothing shall hinder the sinner, any sinner, the worst and most aged sinner, from ob- taining mercy, if he be willing to open to Christ, and to receive him as his Lord and king, John vi. 37. But,
(7.) Seventhly, Christ's pathetical lamentation over all sorts and ranks of sinners, declares his willingness to shew mercy to them. ' O Jerusalem, Jerusalem/ saith Christ, weeping over it, ' that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace,' &c, Luke xix. 41, 42. 'Oh that my people had hearkened unto me !' Ps. lxxxi. 1 3. Christ weeps over Jerusalem ; so did Titus, and so did Mar- cellus over Syracuse, and so did Scipio over Carthage ; but they shed tears for them whose blood they were to shed ; but Christ weeps over the necks of those young and old sinners who were to shed his blood. As a tender-hearted father weeps over his rebellious children, when neither smiles nor frowns, neither counsels nor entreaties, will win them, or turn them from their evil ways, so doth Jesus Christ over these re- bellious Jews, upon whom nothing would work. But,