Every One of You – John Bunyan

“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Acts 2:38

“Objector. ‘But I was one of them that plotted to take away his life. May I be saved by him?’
Peter. ‘Every one of you.’
Objector. ‘But I was one of them that bare false witness against him. Is there grace for me?’
Peter. ‘For every one of you.’
Objector. ‘But I was one of them that cried out, Crucify him, crucify him; and desired that Barabas, the murderer, might live, rather than him. What will become of me, think you?’
Peter. ‘I am to preach repentance and remission of sins to every one of you, says Peter.’
Objector. ‘But I was one of them that did spit in his face when he stood before his accusers. I also was one that mocked him, when in anguish he hanged bleeding on the tree. Is there room for me?’
Peter. ‘For every one of you, says Peter.’
Objector. ‘But I was one of them that, in his extremity, said, Give him gall and vinegar to drink. Why may not I expect the same when anguish and guilt is upon me?’
Peter. ‘Repent of these your wickednesses, and here is remission of sins for every one of you.’
Objector. ‘But I railed on him, I reviled him, I hated him, I rejoiced to see him mocked at by others. Can there be hopes for me?’
Peter. ‘There is, for every one of you.’

Oh! What a blessed ‘Every one of you,’ is here! How willing was Peter, and the Lord Jesus, by his ministry, to catch these murderers with the word of the gospel, that they might be made monuments of the grace of God! How unwilling, I say, was he, that any of these should escape the hand of mercy! Yea, what an amazing wonder it is to think, that above all the world, and above everybody in it, these should have the first offer of mercy! ‘Beginning at Jerusalem.’”

• John Bunyan, “The Jerusalem Sinner Saved or, Good News For The Vilest of Men,” in The Works of John Bunyan, Ed. George Offer (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1854/2009), 1: 71-72.