The Jerusalem Sinner Saved; or Good News for the Vilest of Men by John Bunyan 1689

not so much for such kind of things, as for them that will better answer
their ends.
Hence Christ desires the biggest sinner; in him there is matter to work
by, to wit, a great deal of sin; for as by the tallow of the candle, the fire
takes occasion to burn the brighter; so by the sin of the soul, grace takes
occasion to shine the clearer. Little candles shine but little, for there
wanteth matter for the fire to work upon; but in the great sinner, here is
more matter for grace to work by. Faith shines, when it worketh
towards Christ, through the sides of many and great transgressors, and
so does love, for that much is forgiven. And what matter can be found
in the soul for humility to work by so well, as by a sight that I have been
and am an abominable sinner? And the same is to be said of patience,
meekness, gentleness, self-denial, or of any other grace. Grace takes
occasion by the vileness of the man to shine the more; even as by the
ruggedness of a very strong distemper or disease, the virtue of the
medicine is best made manifest. Where sin abounds, grace much more
abounds; Rom. v. 20. A black string makes the neck look whiter; great
sins make grace burn clear. Some say, when grace and a good nature
meet together, they do make shining Christians: but I say, when grace
and a great sinner meet, and when grace shall subdue that great sinner
to itself, and shall operate after its kind in the soul of that great sinner,
then we have a shining Christian; witness all those of whom mention
was made before.
Abraham was among the idolaters when in the land of Assyria, and
served idols with his kindred on the other side of the flood; Jos. xxiv. 2;
Gen. xi. 31. But who, when called, was there in the world, in whom
grace shone so bright as in him?
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