Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Intercession Of Christ and Who are Privilege In It. 173

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

[Imperfect in their Duties.]—Further, as Christ Jesus, our Lord, doth save us, by his intercession, from that hurt that would unavoidably come upon us by these, so also, by that, we are saved from the evil that is at any time found in any or all our holy duties and performances that is our duty daily to be found in. That our duties are imperfect follows upon what was discoursed before, for if our graces are imperfect, how can our duties be so too?

(1.) Our prayers—how imperfect are they? With how much unbelief are they mixed? How apt is our tongue to run, in prayer, before our hearts? With how much earnestness do our lips move while our hearts lie within as cold as a clod? Yea, and oftentimes, it is to be feared; we ask for that without saying a word that we care, whether we have it or not. Where is the man who pursues with all his might what he seems to ask for with all his heart? Prayer has become a shell, a piece of formality, a very empty thing, as to the spirit and life of prayer on this day. I speak now of the prayers of the godly. I once met with a poor woman who, in the greatest of her distresses, told me she used to rise in the night, in cold weather, and pray to God while sweating with fears of the loss of her prayers and desires that her soul might be saved. I have heard of many who have played, but of few who have prayed till they have sweated because they wrestled with God for mercy in that duty.

(2.) There is the duty of almsgiving, another gospel performance, but how poorly is it done in our days? We have so many foolish ways to lay out money, in toys and fools' baubles for our children, that we can spare none, or very little, for the relief of the poor. Also, do not many give that to their dogs; yea, let it lie in their houses until it stinks so vilely that neither dog nor cat will eat it, which, had it been bestowed well in time, might have been succor and nourishment to some poor member of Christ?

(3.) There is hearing of the Word, but, alas! the place of hearing is the place of sleeping with many a fine professor. I have often observed that those who keep shops can briskly attend to a two-penny customer, but when they come themselves to God's market, they spend their time too much letting their thoughts wander from God's commandments, or in a nasty, drowsy way. The heads and hearts of most hearers are to the Word as the sieve is to water; they can hold no sermons, remember no texts, bring home no proofs, and produce none of the sermons to the edification and profit of others. And do not the best take up too much in hearing, and mind too little what, by the Word, God calls for at their hands, to perform it with a good conscience?

(4.) There is faithfulness in callings, faithfulness to brethren, faithfulness to the world, faithfulness to children, to servants, to all, according to our place and capacity. Oh! how little of it is there found in the mouths and lives, to speak nothing of the hearts, of professors.