Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Objections That Usually Lie in The Way Of Coming To Christ, 258.

 

Object. But is not the door of mercy shut against some before they die?

Answ. Yea; and God forbids that prayers should be made to him for them (Jer 6:16; Jude 22).

Quest. Then, why may I not doubt that I may be one of these?

Answ. By no means, if thou art coming to Jesus Christ; because when God shuts the door upon men, he gives them no heart to come to Jesus Christ. “None come but those to whom it is given of the Father.” But thou comes, therefore it is given to you by the Father.

Be sure, therefore, that if the Father has given you a heart to come to Jesus Christ, the gate of mercy still stands open to you. For it stands not with the wisdom of God to give strength to come to the birth, and yet to shut up the womb, (Isa 66:9); to give grace to come to Jesus Christ, and yet shut up the door of his mercy upon thee. “Incline your ear,” saith he, “and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David” (Isa 55:3).

Object. But it is said, that some knocked when the door was shut.

Answ. Yes; but the texts in which these knockers are mentioned, refer to the day of judgment, and not to the coming of the sinner to Christ in this life. See the texts, Matthew 15:11, and Luke 13:24,25. These, therefore, concern you nothing at all, that art is coming to Jesus Christ, thou art coming now! “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). Now God is upon the mercy seat; now Christ Jesus sits by, continually pleading the victory of his blood for sinners; and now, even as long as this world lasts, this word of the text shall still be free, and fully fulfilled; “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

Sinner, the greater sinner thou art, the greater need of mercy thou hast, and the more will Christ be glorified thereby. Come then, come and try; come, taste, and see how good the Lord is to an undeserving sinner!

Object. 6. But, says another, I have fallen since I began to come to Christ; therefore, I fear I did not come aright, and so consequently, Christ will not receive me.

Answ. Falls are dangerous, for they dishonor Christ, wound the conscience, and cause the enemies of God to speak reproachfully. But it is no good argument, I am fallen, therefore I was not coming right to Jesus Christ. If David, Solomon, and Peter, had thus objected against themselves, they had added to their griefs; and yet, at least they had as much cause as you. A man whose steps are ordered by the Lord, and whose goings the Lord delights in, may yet be overtaken with a temptation that may cause him to fall 11 (Psa 37:23,24). Did not Aaron fall; yea, and Moses himself? What shall we say of Hezekiah and Jehosaphat? There are, therefore, falls and falls; falls pardonable and falls unpardonable. Falls unpardonable are falls against light, from the faith to the despising of, and trampling upon Jesus Christ and his blessed undertakings (Heb 6:2-5; 10:28,29). Now, as for such, there remains no more sacrifice for sin. Indeed, they have no heart, no mind, and no desire to come to Jesus Christ for life, therefore they must perish. Nay, says the Holy Ghost, “It is impossible that they should be renewed again unto repentance.” Therefore these God had no compassion for, neither ought we; but for other falls though they are dreadful, and God will chastise his people for them, they do not prove thee a graceless man, one not coming to Jesus Christ for life.

It is said of the child in the gospel, that while “he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him” (Luke 9:42). Dejected sinner, it is no wonder that thou hast caught a fall in coming to Jesus Christ. Is it not rather to be wondered at, that thou hast not caught before this a thousand times a thousand falls? considering, 1. What fools we are by nature. 2. What weaknesses are in us. 3. What mighty powers the fallen angels, our implacable enemies, are. 4. Considering also how often the coming man is benighted in his journey; and also what stumbling blocks do lie in his way. 5. Also his familiars, who were so before, now watch for his halting and seek by what means they may to cause him to fall by the hand of their strong ones.

What then? Must we, because of these temptations, incline to fall? No. Must we not fear falls? Yes. “Let him that thinketh he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). Yet let him not utterly be cast down; “The Lord uphold all that fall, and raised up those that are bowed down.” Make not light of falls! Yet, hast thou fallen? “Ye have,” said Samuel, “done all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following the Lord,” but serve him with a perfect heart, and turn not aside, “for the Lord will not forsake his people,” and he counted the coming sinner one of them, “because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people” (1 Sam 12:20-22).

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Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Objections That Usually Lie in The Way Of Coming To Christ, 257.

7. I read of some who follow Christ in chains; I say, to come after him in chains. “Thus saith the Lord, The labor of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee: in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee: they shall make supplication unto thee, saying—Surely there is none else” to save (Isa 45:14). Surely they that come after Christ in chains, come to him in great difficulty, because their steps, by the chains, are straitened. And what chains are so heavy as those that discourage you? Thy chain, which is made up of guilt and filth, is heavy; it is a wretched bond about thy neck, by which thy strength doth fail (Lam 1:14; 3:18). But come, though thou comes in chains; it is glory to Christ that a sinner comes after him in chains. Though troublesome to thee, the chinking of thy chains is not, nor can be an obstruction to thy salvation; it is Christ’s work and glory to save you from your chains, enlarge your steps, and set you at liberty. The blind man, though called, surely could not come to Jesus Christ, but Christ could stand still, and stay for him (Mark 10:49). True, “He rode upon the wings of the wind;” but yet he is long-suffering, and his long-suffering is salvation to him that cometh to him (2 Peter 3:9).

8. Hadst thou seen those that came to the Lord Jesus in the days of his flesh, how slowly, how hobblingly, they came to him, because of their infirmities. Also, how friendly, kindly, and graciously, he received them, and gave them the desire of their hearts, thou would not, as thou dost, make such objections against thyself, in thy coming to Jesus Christ.

Object. 5. But, says another, I fear I come too late; I doubt I have staid too long; I am afraid the door is shut.

Answ. Thou canst never come too late to Jesus Christ if thou dost come. This is manifest in two instances.

1. By the man that came to him at the eleventh hour. This man was idle all day long. He had a whole gospel day to come in, and he played it all away save only the last hour thereof. But at last, at the eleventh hour, he came and went into the vineyard to work with the rest of the laborers, that had borne the burden and heat of the day. Well, but how was he received by the lord of the vineyard? Why, when pay-day came, he had even as much as the rest; yea, had his money first. True, the others murmured at him; but what did the Lord Jesus answer them? “Is thine eye evil, because I am good? I will give unto this last, even as unto thee” (Matt 20:14,15).

2. The other instance is the thief upon the cross. He came late also, even as at an hour before his death; yea, he stayed from Jesus Christ as long as he had liberty to be a thief, and longer too; for could he have deluded the judge, and by lying words have escaped his just condemnation, for ought I know, he had not come as yet to his Saviour; but being convicted, and condemned to die, yea, fastened to the cross, that he might die like a rogue, as he was in his life; behold the Lord Jesus, when this wicked one, even now, desired mercy at his hands, tells him, and that without the least reflection upon him, for his former misspent life, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Let no man turn this grace of God into wantonness. My design is now to encourage the coming soul.

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Objections That Usually Lie in The Way of Coming To Christ, 256.

 

3. Thou mayest be vehement in thy spirit in coming to Jesus Christ, and yet be plagued with sensible sloth; so was the church when she cried, “Draw me, we will run after thee;” and Paul, when he said, “When I would do good, evil is present with me” (Song 14; Rom 7; Gal 5:19). The works, struggles, and oppositions of the flesh, are more manifest than are the works of the Spirit in our hearts. So they are sooner felt than they are. What then? Let us not be discouraged at the sight and feeling of our infirmities, but run faster to Jesus Christ for salvation.

4. Get thy heart warmed with the sweet promise of Christ’s acceptance of the coming sinner, and that will make thee make more haste unto him. Discouraging thoughts are like unto cold weather, they benumb the senses, and make us go ungainly about our business; but the sweet and warm leads of the promise are like the comfortable beams of the sun, which liven and refresh. You see how little the bee and fly do play in the air in winter; why, does the cold hinder them from doing it; But when the wind and sun are warm, who is as busy as they?

5. But again, he who comes to Christ, flies for his life. Now, no man flies for his life, who thinks he speeds fast enough on his journey; no, he could not; he would willingly take a mile at a time. O my sloth and heartlessness, sayest thou! “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest” (Psa 55:6, 8).

Poor coming soul, thou art like the man that would ride full gallop, whose horse will hardly trot! Now, the desire of his mind is not to be judged by the slow pace of the dull jade he rides on, but by the hitching, kicking, and spurring, as he sits on his back. Thy flesh is like this dull jade; it will not gallop after Christ; it will be backward, though thy soul and heaven lie at stake. But be of good comfort, Christ judged not according to the fierceness of outward motion (Mark 10:17) but according to the sincerity of the heart and inward parts (John 1:47; Psa 51:6; Matt 26:41).

6. Ziba, in appearance, came to David much faster than did Mephibosheth; but yet his heart was not as upright in him to David as was his. It is true, Mephibosheth had a check from David; for, said he, “Why went not thou with me, Mephibosheth?” But when David came to remember that Mephibosheth was lame, for that was his plea—” thy servant is lame” (2 Sam 19), he was content and concluded, he would have come after him faster than he did; and Mephibosheth appealed to David, who was in those days as an angel of God, to know all things that are done in the earth, if he did not believe that the reason of his backwardness lay in his lameness, and not in his mind. Why, poor coming sinner, thou canst not come to Christ with that outward swiftness of a courier as many others do; but doth the reason of thy backwardness lie in thy mind and will, or in the sluggishness of the flesh? Canst thou say sincerely, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt 26:41). Yea, canst thou appeal to the Lord Jesus, who knows perfectly the very inmost thought of thy heart, that this is true? Then take this for thy comfort, he hath said, “I will assemble her that halted—I will make her that halted a remnant,” (Micah 4:6), “and I will save her that halted” (Zeph 3:19). What canst thou have more from the sweet lips of the Son of God? But,

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Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Objections That Usually Lie in The Way Of Coming To Christ, 255.

Object. 3. But I cannot believe that I come to Christ aright, because sometimes I am apt to question his very being and office to save.

Thus to do is horrible, but mayest thou not judge amiss in this matter? How can I judge amiss, when I judge as I feel? Poor soul! Thou mayest judge amiss for all that. Why, says the sinner, do I think that these questions come from my heart. Let me answer. That which comes from thy heart, comes from thy will and affections, from thy understanding, judgment, and conscience, for these must acquiesce in thy questioning if thy questioning is with thy heart. And how sayest thou, for to name no more, dost thou with thy affection and conscience thus question? Answ. My conscience trembles when such thoughts come into my mind, and my affections are otherwise inclined.

Then I conclude, that these things are either suddenly injected by the devil, or else they are the fruits of that body of sin and death that yet dwells within you, or perhaps from both together.

If they come wholly from the devil, as they seem because thy conscience and affections are against them, or if they come from that body of death that is in thee, and be not thou curious in inquiring from whether of them they come, the safest way is to lay enough at thy own door; nothing of this should hinder thy coming, nor make thee conclude thou comes not aright. 7 And before I leave thee, let me a little query with thee about this matter.

1. Dost thou like these wicked blasphemies? Answ. No, no, their presence and work kill me.

2. Dost thou mourn for them, pray against them, and hate thyself because of them? Answ. Yes, yes; but that which afflicts me is, I do not prevail against them.

3. Dost thou sincerely choose, mightiest thou have thy choice, that thy heart might be affected and taken with the best, most heavenly, and holy things? Answ. With all my heart, and death the next hour, if it were God’s will, rather than thus to sin against him.

Well then, thy not liking of them, thy mourning for them, thy praying against them, and thy loathing thyself because of them, with thy sincere choosing of those thoughts for thy delectation that are heavenly and holy, clearly declares, that these things are not countenanced either with thy will, affections, understanding, judgment, or conscience. So, that thy heart is not in them, but that rather they come immediately from the devil or arise from the body of death that is in thy flesh, of which thou oughts’ thus to say, “Now, then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Rom 7:17).

I will give thee a pertinent instance. In Deuteronomy 22, thou mayest read of a betrothed damsel, one betrothed to her beloved, one that had given him her heart and mouth, as thou hast given thyself to Christ; yet was she met with as she walked in the field, by one that forced her, because he was stronger than she. Well, what judgment now doth God, the righteous judge, pass upon the damsel for this? “The man only that lay with her,” saith God, “shall die. But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death. For, as when a man rises against his neighbor, and slayed him, even so, is this matter; for he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her” (Deut 22:25-27).

Thou art this damsel. The man that forced thee with these blasphemous thoughts, is the devil; and he lights upon thee in a fit place, even in the field, as thou art wandering after Jesus Christ; but thou cries out, and by thy cry did show, that thou abhorrest such wicked lewdness. Well, the Judge of all the earth will do right; he will not lay the sin at thy door, but at his that offered the violence. And for thy comfort take this into consideration, that he came to heal them “that were oppressed of the devil” (Acts 10:38).

Object. 4. But, saith another, I am so heartless, so slow, and, as I think, so indifferent in my coming, that, to speak the truth, I know not whether my kind of coming ought to be called a coming to Christ.

Answ. You know that I told you at first, that coming to Christ is a moving of the heart and affections towards him.

But, saith the soul, my dullness and indifference in all holy duties, demonstrate my heartlessness in coming; and to come, and not with the heart, signifies nothing at all.

1. The moving of the heart after Christ is not to be discerned, at all times, by thy sensible affectionate performance of duties, but rather by those secret groanings and complaints which thy soul makes to God against that sloth that attends thee in duties.

2. But grant it to be even as thou sayest it is, that thou comes so slowly, &c., yet, since Christ bids them come that come not at all, surely they may be accepted that come, though attended with those infirmities which thou at present groans under. He saith, “and him that cometh;” he saith not, If they come sensible; so fast; but, “and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” He saith also in the ninth of Proverbs, “As for him that wanted understanding,” that is, an heart (for oftentimes the understanding is taken for the heart), “come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.”

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Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Objections That Usually Lie in The Way Of Coming To Christ, 254.

 

All these particular parts and qualities of faith are in that soul that comes to Jesus Christ for life, as is evident from any indifferent judgment. For, will he that believeth not the testimony of Christ concerning the baseness of sin, and the insufficiency of the righteousness of the world, come to Christ for life? No. He who believes not in this testimony of the word comes not. Whoever believes that there is life anywhere else does not. Whoever questions whether the Father has given Christ the power to forgive does not. He that thinketh that there is more in sin, in the law, in death, and in the devil, to destroy, than there is in Christ to save, comes not. He also questions the faithful management of his priesthood for the salvation of sinners.

Thou, then, that art indeed the coming sinner, believes all this. True, perhaps thou dost not believe with that full assurance, nor hast thou leisure to take notice of thy faith as to these distinct acts of it, but yet all this faith is in him coming to Christ for life. And the faith that thus works is the faith of the best and purest kind; because this man comes alone as a sinner, seeing that life is, and is to be only in Jesus Christ.

Before I conclude my answer to this objection, take into consideration these two things.

1st. [Consider] that the cities of refuge were erected for those that were dead in law, and that yet would live by grace; even for those that were to fly thither for life from the avenger of blood that pursued after them. And it is worth your noting, that those that were upon their flight there are peculiarly called the people of God: “Cast ye up, cast ye up,” saith God; “prepare the way; take up the stumbling block of the way of my people” (Isa 57:14). This is meant to prepare the way to the city of refuge, that the slayers might escape there; the flying slayers are here, by way of specialty, called the people of God; even those of them that escaped there for life.

2dly. [Consider] that of Ahab, when Benhadad sent to him for life, saying, “Thus saith thy servant Benhadad, I pray thee let me live.” Though Benhadad had sought the crown, kingdom, yea, and also the life of Ahab, how effectively did Benhadad prevail with him! Is Benhadad yet alive? saith Ahab; He is my brother; yea, go ye, bring him to me. So he made him ride in his chariot (1 Kings 20).

Coming sinner, what thinks thou? If Jesus Christ had as little goodness in him as Ahab, he might grant a humble Benhadad life; thou neither begest of him his crown and dignity; life, eternal life, will serve thy turn. How much more then shalt thou have it since thou hast to deal with him who is goodness and mercy itself! Yea, since thou art also called upon, yea, greatly encouraged by a promise of life, to come unto him for life! Read also these Scriptures, Numbers 35:11,14,15, Joshua 20:1-6, Hebrews 6:16-21.

Object. 2. When I say I only seek myself, I mean I do not find that I do design God’s glory in mine own salvation by Christ, and that makes me fear I do not come aright.

Ans. Where doth Christ Jesus require such a qualification of those that are coming to him for life? Come thou for life, and trouble not thy head with such objections against thyself, and let God and Christ alone glorify themselves in the salvation of such a worm as thou art. The Father saith to the Son, “Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” God propounded life to sinners, as the argument to prevail with them to come to him for life; and Christ says plainly, “I have come that they might have life” (John 10:10). He hath no need of thy designs, though thou hast need of his. Eternal life, pardon of sin, and deliverance from the wrath to come, Christ propounds to thee, and these be the things that thou hast need of; besides, God will be gracious and merciful to worthless, undeserving wretches; come then as such a one, and lay no stumbling blocks in the way to him, but come to him for life, and live (John 5:34; 10:10; 3:36; Matt 1:21; Prov 8:35, 36; 1 Thess 1:10; John 11:25,26).

When the jailer said, “Sirs, What must I do to be saved?” Paul did not so much as once ask him, What is your end in this question? do you design the glory of God, in the salvation of your soul? He had more wit; he knew that such questions as these would have been but fools’ babbles about, instead of a sufficient salve5 “Which Cambell seeing, though he could not salve, to so weighty a question as this. Wherefore, since this poor wretch lacked salvation by Jesus Christ, I mean to be saved from hell and death,” which he knew, now, was due to him for the sins that he had committed, Paul bids him, like a poor condemned sinner as he was, to proceed still in this his way of self-seeking, saying, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30-32). I know that afterward thou wilt desire to glorify Christ by walking in the way of his precepts, but at present thou wants life; the avenger of blood is behind thee, and the devil like a roaring lion is behind thee; well, come now, and obtain life from these; and when thou hast obtained some comfortable persuasion that thou art made partaker of life by Christ, then, and not till then, thou wilt say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgives all thine iniquities, who health

all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies” (Psa 103:1-4).

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; What Is It To Come To Christ, 252.

 

Take two or three things to make this plainer; to wit, That coming to Christ flowed from a sound sense of the absolute need that a man hath of him, as afore.

1. “They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them; I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble” (Jer 31:9). Mind it; they come with weeping and supplication; they come with prayers and tears. Now prayers and tears are the effects of a righteous sense of the need for mercy. Thus, a senseless sinner cannot come, he cannot pray, he cannot cry, and he cannot become sensible of what he sees or feels. “In those days, and in that time—the children of Israel shall come; they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten” (Jer 1:4,5).

2. This coming to Christ, is called a running to him, as flying to him; a flying to him from wrath to come. By all which terms is set forth the sense of the man that comes; to wit, That he is affected with the sense of his sin, and the death due thereto; that he is sensible that the avenger of blood pursues him, and that, therefore, he is thus off, if he does not speed to the Son of God for life (Matt 3:7; Psa 143:9). Flying is the last work of a danger man; all that are in danger do not fly; no, not all that see themselves in danger; flying is the last work of a danger man; all that hear of danger will not fly. Men will consider if there is no other way of escaping before they fly. Therefore, as I said, flying is the last thing. When all refuge fails, and a man is made to see that there is nothing left but sin, death, and damnation, unless he flies to Christ for life; then he flies, and not till then.

3. That the true coming is from a sense of an absolute need of Jesus Christ to save, &c., is evident by the outcry that is made by them to come, even as they are coming to him, “Lord, save me,” or I perish; “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” and the like (Matt 14:30; Acts 2:37; 16:30). This language doth sufficiently discover that the truly-coming souls are souls sensible of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ; and, moreover, that there is nothing else that can help them but Christ.

4. It is yet further evident by the few things that follow: It is said that such are “pricked in their hearts,” that is, with the sentence of death by the law; and the least prick in the heart kills a man (Acts 2:37). Such is said, as I said before, to weep, to tremble, and to be astonished in themselves at the evident and unavoidable danger that attends them unless they fly to Jesus Christ (Acts 9:16).

5. Coming to Christ is attended with an honest and sincere forsaking of all for him. “If any man comes to me, and hates not his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26–27).

By these and the like expressions elsewhere, Christ described the true comer or the man that indeed is coming to him; he casts all behind his back; he leaves all, he forsakes all, and he hates all things that would stand in his way to hinder his coming to Jesus Christ. There are many pretended comers to Jesus Christ in the world, and they are much like the man you read of in Matthew 21:30, who said to his father’s bidding, “I go, sir, and went not.” There are many such comers to Jesus Christ; they say, when Christ calls by his gospel, I come, Sir; but still, they abide by their pleasures and carnal delights. They come not at all, only they give him a courtly compliment; but he takes notice of it, and will not let it pass for any more than a lie. He said, “I go, sir, and I went not,” and he dissembled and lied. Take heed of this, you that flatter yourselves with your own deceiving. Words will not do with Jesus Christ. Coming is coming, and nothing else will go for coming with him.

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Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; What Is It To Come To Christ, 251.

 

Second, it is a moving of the mind towards him, from a sound sense of the absolute want that a man has of him for his justification and salvation. Indeed, without this sense of a lost condition, there will be no moving of the mind towards him. “With their mouths, they show much love” (Eze 33:31). Such a people as this will come as the true people cometh; that is, in the show and outward appearance. And they will sit before God’s ministers, as his people sit before them; and they will hear his words too, but they will not do them; that is, they will not come inwardly with their minds. 

“For with their mouth they shed much love, but their heart,” or mind, “goes after their covetousness.” Now, all this is because they want an effectual sense of the misery of their state by nature; for not till they have that will they, in their mind, move after him. Therefore, it is said concerning the true comers, “That day the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem” (Isa 27:13). They are then, as you see, the outcasts, and those that are ready to perish, who, indeed, have their minds effectively moved to come to Jesus Christ. This sense of things was that which made the three thousand come, that made Saul come, that made the jailer come, and that, indeed, makes all others come, that come effectually (Acts 2:8,18).

Of the true coming to Christ, the four lepers were a famous semblance, of whom you read, (2 Kings 7:3), &c. The famine in those days was sore in the land, there was no bread for the people; and as for that sustenance that was, which was asses’ flesh and doves’ dung, that was only in Samaria, and of these the lepers had no share, for they were thrust without the city. Well, now they sat in the gate of the city, and hunger was, as I may say, making his last meal of them; and being, therefore, half dead already, what do they think of doing? Why, first they display the dismal colors of death before each other’s faces, and then resolve what to do, saying, “If we say we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: if we sit still here, we die also. 

Now, therefore, come, let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; if they kill us, we shall but die.” Here, now, was a necessity at work, and this necessity drove them to go thither for life, whither else they would never have gone for it. Thus it is with them that in truth come to Jesus Christ. Death is before them, they see it and feel it; he is feeding upon them, and will eat them quite up if they come not to Jesus Christ; and therefore they come, even of necessity, being forced thereto by that sense they have of their being utterly and everlastingly undone, if they find not safety in him. These are those that will come. Indeed, these are those that are invited to come. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28).

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Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; What Is It To Come To Christ, 250.

 

FIRST, I will show you WHAT IT IS TO COME TO CHRIST. This word must be understood spiritually, not carnally; for many came to him carnally, or bodily, that had no saving advantage for him. Multitudes did thus come unto him in the days of his flesh; yea, innumerable companies. There is also at this day a formal customary coming to his ordinances and ways of worship, which availed not anything; but with them, I shall not now meddle, for they are not intended in the text. The coming, then, intended in the text is to be understood as the coming of the mind to him, even the moving of the heart towards him. I say the moving of the heart towards him, from a sound sense of the absolute want that a man has of him for his justification and salvation.

This description of coming to Christ divides itself into two heads: First, coming to Christ is a moving of the mind towards him. Second, That it is a moving of the mind towards him, from a sound sense of the absolute want that a man has of him for his justification and salvation.

[First.] To speak to the first is a moving of the mind towards him. This is evident; because coming hither or thither, if it be voluntary, is by an act of the mind or will; so coming to Christ is through the inclining of the will. “Thy people shall be willing” (Psa 110:3). This willingness of the heart is what sets the mind moving after or towards him. The church expressed this moving of her mind towards Christ by the moving of her bowels. “My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him” (Can 5:4). “My bowels;” the passions of my mind and affections; which passions of the affections are expressed by the yearning and sounding of the bowels, the yearning or passionate working of them, the sounding of them, or their making a noise for him (Gen 43:30; 1 Kings 3:26; Isa 16:11).

This, then, is the coming to Christ, even moving towards him with the mind. 4 “And it shall come to pass, that everything that lived, which moved, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live” (Eze 47:9). The water in this text is the grace of God in the doctrine of it. The living things are the children of men, to whom the grace of God, by the gospel, is preached. Now, saith he, every living thing that moves, whither the water shall come, shall live. And see how this word moved is expounded by Christ himself, in the book of Revelations: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him who is eager come. And whosoever will,” that is, willing, “let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17).

So that to move in thy mind and will after Christ, is to be coming to him. There are many poor souls that are coming to Christ, but cannot tell how to believe it, because they think that coming to him is some strange and wonderful thing; and, indeed, so it is. But I mean, they overlook the inclination of their will, the moving of their mind, and the sounding of their bowels after him; and count these none of this strange and wonderful thing; when, indeed, it is a work of greatest wonder in this world, to see a man who was sometimes dead in sin possessed of the devil, an enemy to Christ and to all things spiritually good; I say, to see this man moving with his mind after the Lord Jesus Christ, is one of the highest wonders in the world.

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Son’s Reception Of The Gift, 249.

 

“All that the Father giveth me SHALL COME.” In these last words, there is closely inserted an answer to the Father’s end in giving his elect to Jesus Christ. The Father’s end was, that they might come to him, and be saved by him; and that, says the Son, shall be done; neither sin nor Satan, neither flesh nor world, nor wisdom nor folly, shall hinder their coming to me. “They shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

Therefore, the Lord Jesus is positively determined to put forth such a sufficiency of all grace as shall effectively perform this promise. “They shall come;” that is, he will cause them to come, by infusing an effectual blessing into all the means that shall be used to that end. As was said to the evil spirit that was sent to persuade Ahab to go and fall at Ramoth-Gilead: “Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so” (1 Kings 22:22). 

So will Jesus Christ say to the means that shall be used for the bringing of those to him that the Father has given him. I say, he will bless it effectually to this very end; it shall persuade them, and shall prevail also; else, as I said, the Father’s end would be frustrated; for the Father’s will is, that “of all which he hath given him, he should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day,” (John 6:39); in order next unto himself, Christ the first-fruits, afterward those that are his at his coming (1 Cor 15). But this cannot be done if there should fail to be a work of grace effectively wrought in any one of them. But this shall not fail to be wrought in them, even in all that the Father has given him to save. “All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me,” &c. But to speak more distinctly to the words, THEY “SHALL COME,” two things I would show you from these words—FIRST, what it is to come to Christ. SECOND, What force is there in this promise, to make them come to him?

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Father's Intent In Giving, 248.

 

God did once give Moses, as Christ’s servant, a handful of his people, to carry them in his bosom, but no further than from Egypt to Canaan; and this Moses, as is said of him by the Holy Ghost, was the meekest man that was then to be found in the earth; yea, and he loved the people at a very great rate; yet neither would his meekness nor love hold out in this work; he failed and grew passionate, even to the point of provoking his God to anger under this work. “And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?” But what was the affliction? Why, the Lord had said unto him, “Carry these people in thy bosom as a nursing father bears the suckling child, unto the land which thou swore unto their fathers.” And how, then? Not I, says Moses, “I am not able to bear all these people alone, because it is too heavy for me. If thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, and let me not see my wretchedness” (Num 11:11–15).

God gave them to Moses, that he might carry them in his bosom, that he might show gentleness and patience towards them, under all the provocations wherewith they would provoke him from that time till he had brought them to their land; but he failed in the work; he could not exercise it, because he had not that sufficiency of patience towards them. But now it is said of the person speaking in the text, “That he shall gather the lambs with his arm, carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are young” (Isa 40:11). It was intimating that this was one of the qualifications that God looked for, and knew was in him when he gave his elect to him to save them.

Fourth, The Father, giving of him to save them, declares that he has sufficient wisdom to wage with all those difficulties that would attend him in bringing his sons and daughters to glory. He made him to us to be wisdom; yes, he is called wisdom itself (1 Cor 1:30). And God says, moreover, That “he shall deal prudently” (Isa 52:13). And, indeed, he who shall take upon him to be the Saviour of the people, had to be wise because their adversaries are subtle above any. Here they are to encounter the serpent, who, for his subtilty outwitted our father and mother when their wisdom was at its highest (Gen 3). But if we talk of wisdom, our Jesus is wise—wiser than Solomon, wiser than all men, and wiser than all angels; he is even the wisdom of God. “Christ is the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24). And hence it is that he turned to sin, temptations, persecutions, falls, and all things, for good unto his people (Rom 8:28).

Now these things thus concluded do show us also the great and wonderful love of the Father, in that he should choose out one every way so well prepared for the work of man’s salvation.

Herein, indeed, we perceive the love of God. Huram gathered, that God loved Israel because he had given them such a king as Solomon (2 Chron 2:11). But how much more may we behold the love that God has bestowed upon us, in that he has given us to his Son, and also given his Son for us?

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Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Father's Intent In Giving, 247.

 

The Father, therefore, in giving them to him to save them, must declare to us the following things:

First, he can answer this design of God, to wit, to save them from the uttermost sin, the uttermost temptation, &c. (Heb 7:25). Hence he is said to lay “help upon one that is mighty,” “mighty to save” (Psa 89:19; Isa 63:1), and hence it is again, that God did even of his old promise to send his people “a Saviour, a great one” (Isa 19:20). To save is a great work, and calls for almightiness in the undertaker: hence, he is called the “Mighty God, the Wonderful Counsellor,” &c. Sin is strong, Satan is also strong, death and the grave are strong, and so is the curse of the law; therefore, it follows, that this Jesus must need to be, by God the Father, accounted almighty, in that he has given his elect to him to save them and deliver them from them, despite all their force and power.

And he gave us testimony of his might when he was employed in that part of our deliverance that called for a declaration of it. He abolished death; he destroyed him that had the power of death; he was the destruction of the grave; he hath finished sin, and made an end of it, as to its damning effects upon the persons that the Father hath given him; he hath vanquished the curse of the law, nailed it to his cross, triumphed over them upon his cross, and made a show of these things openly (2 Tim 1:10; Heb 2:14,15; Hosea 13:14; Dan 9:24; Gal 3:13; Col 2:14,15). Yea, and even now, as a sign of his triumph and conquest, he is alive from the dead and has the keys of hell and death in his own keeping (Rev 1:18).

Second, the Father’s giving of them to him to save them, declares unto us that he is and will be faithful in his office of Mediator and that therefore they shall be secured from the fruit and wages of their sins, which is eternal damnation, by his faithful execution of it. And, indeed, it is said, even by the Holy Ghost himself, that he “was faithful to him that appointed him,” that is, to this work of saving those that the Father has given him for that purpose; as “Moses was faithful in all his house.” Yea, and more faithful too, for Moses was faithful in God’s house but as a servant; “but Christ as a Son over his own house” (Heb 3). And therefore this man is counted worthy of more glory than Moses, even upon this account, because he is more faithful than he is, as well as because of the dignity of his person. Therefore, in him, and in his truth and faithfulness, God rested well pleased, and he has put all the government of this people upon his shoulders. Knowing that nothing shall be wanting in him, that may in any way perfect this design. And of this, he, to wit, the Son, has already given proof. For when the time came that his blood was, by Divine justice, required for their redemption, washing, and cleansing, he freely poured it out of his heart, as if it had been water out of a vessel; not sticking to part with his own life, that the life that was laid up for his people in heaven might not fail to be bestowed upon them. And upon this account, as well as upon any other, it is that God calleth him “my righteous servant” (Isa 53:11). For his righteousness could never have been complete, if he had not been to the uttermost faithful to the work he undertook; it is also, because he is faithful and true, that in righteousness he doth judge and make work for his people’s deliverance. He will faithfully perform the trust reposed in him. The Father knows this and has therefore given his elect to him.

Third, the Father’s giving of them to him, to save them, declares that he is, and will be gentle, and patient towards them, under all their provocations and miscarriages. It is not to be imagined, the trials and provocations that the Son of God has all along had with these people that have been given to him that save them: indeed, he is said to be “a tried stone;” for he has been tried, not only by the devil, guilt of sin, death, and the curse of the law, but also by his people’s ignorance, unruliness, falling into sin, and declining to errors in life and doctrine. Were we not capable of seeing how this Lord Jesus has been tried even by his people, Ever since there was one of them in the world, we should be amazed at his patience and gentleness toward them. It is indeed said, “The Lord is very pitiful, slow to anger, and of great mercy.” And, indeed, if he had not been so, he could never have endured their manners as he has done from Adam hitherto. Therefore, his pity and bowels towards his church are preferred above the pity and bowels of a mother towards her child. “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion for the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee,” saith the Lord (Isa 49:15).

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Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Come and Welcome To Jesus Christ, 246.

1. That though the act of giving among men does admit of the time past, or the time to come, and is to be spoken of concerning such time, with God it is not so. Things past, or things to come, are always present with God, and with his Son Jesus Christ: He “calleth those things which be not,” that is, to us, “as though they were” (Rom 4:17). And again, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” All things to God are present, and so is the gift of the Father to the Son, although to us, as is manifested by the word, it is an act that is past (Acts 15:16).

2. Christ may express himself thus, to show, that the Father hath not only given him this portion in the lump before the world was but that those that he had so given, he will give him again; that is, will bring them to him at the time of their conversion; for the Father bringeth them to Christ (John 6:44). As it is said, “She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework,” that is, in the righteousness of Christ; for it is God that imputes that to those that are saved (Psa 45:14; 1 Cor 1). A man giveth his daughter to such a man, first to marry, and this respects the time past, and he giveth her again at the day appointed in marriage. And in this last sense, perhaps, the text may have a meaning; that is, that all that the Father hath, before the world was, given to Jesus Christ, he giveth them again to him in the day of their espousals.

Things that are given among men are often best at first; to wit, when they are new; and the reason is, that all earthly things wax old; but with Christ, it is not so. This gift of the Father is not old, deformed, and unpleasant in his eyes; therefore, it is always new to him. When the Lord spoke of giving the land of Canaan to the Israelites, he said not, that he had given, or would give it to them, but thus: “The Lord thy God giveth thee—this good land” (Deut 9:6). Not but that he had given it to them, while they were in the loins of their fathers, hundreds of years before. Yet he says now he giveth it to them; as if they were now also taking possession when, as yet, they were on the other side of Jordan. What, then, should be the meaning? Why, I take it to be this. That the land should be to them always as new; as new as if they were taking possession thereof, but now. And so is the gift of the Father, mentioned in the text, to the Son; it is always new, as if it were always new.

“All that the Father giveth me.” In these words, you find mention of two persons, the Father and the Son; the Father giving, and the Son receiving or accepting this gift. This, then, in the first place, clearly demonstrates, that the Father and the Son, though they, with the Holy Ghost, are one and the same eternal God; yet, as to their personalities, are distinct. The Father is one, the Son is one, and the Holy Spirit is one. But because there is a mention in this text of two of the three, therefore, a word about these two. The giver and receiver cannot be the same person in a proper sense, in the same act of giving and receiving. He that giveth, giveth not to himself, but to another; the Father giveth not to the Father, to wit, to himself, but to the Son: the Son receiveth not of the Son, to wit, of himself, but of the Father: so when the Father giveth commandment, he giveth it not to himself, but to another; as Christ saith, “He gave me a commandment” (John 12:49). So again, “I bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me” (John 8:18).

Further, here is something implied that is not expressed, to wit, that the Father hath not given all men to Christ; that is, in that sense as it is intended in this text, though in a larger sense, as was said before, he hath given him every one of them; for then all should be saved: he hath, therefore, disposed of some another way. He gives some up to idolatry; he gives some up to uncleanness, to vile affections, and to a reprobate mind. Now these he disposeth of in his anger, for their destruction, that they may reap the fruit of their doings, and be filled with the reward of their own ways (Acts 7:42; Rom 1:24,26,28). But neither hath he thus disposed of all men; he hath even of mercy reserved some from these judgments, and those are they that he will pardon, as he saith, “For I will pardon them whom I reserve” (Jer 50:20). Now these he has given to Jesus Christ, by will, as a legacy and portion. Hence the Lord Jesus says, “This is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39).

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Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Come and Welcome To Jesus Christ, 245.

 

“All that the Father giveth.” By this word “Father,” Christ describes the person giving; from which we may learn several useful things.

First, the Lord God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is concerned with the Son in the salvation of his people. True, his acts, as to our salvation, are diverse from those of the Son; he was not capable of doing that, or those things for us, as did the Son; he died not, he spilled not blood for our redemption, as the Son; but yet he has a hand, a great hand, in our salvation too. As Christ saith, “The Father himself loveth you,” and his love is manifest in choosing of us, in giving of us to his Son; yea, and in giving his Son also to be a ransom for us. Hence he is called, “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” For here even the Father hath himself found out, and made way for his grace to come to us through the sides and the heart-blood of his well-beloved Son (Col 1:12-14). The Father, therefore, is to be remembered and adored, as one having a chief hand in the salvation of sinners. We ought to give “thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col 1:12). “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (John 4:14). As we also see in the text, the “Father giveth” the sinner to Christ to save him.

Second, Christ Jesus the Lord, by this word “Father,” would familiarize this giver to us. Naturally, the name of God is dreadful to us, especially when he is discovered to us by those names that declare his justice, holiness, power, and glory. Still, now that the word “Father” is familiar, it frightens not the sinner but rather inclined his heart to love and be pleased with the remembrance of him. Hence Christ also, when he would have us pray with godly boldness, puts this word “Father” into our mouths; saying, “When ye pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven;” concluding thereby, that by the familiarity that such a word is intimated, the children of God may take more boldness to pray for, and ask great things. I have often found, that when I can say this word, Father, it does me more good than when I call him by any other Scripture name.

It is noteworthy that calling God by his relative title was rare among the saints in Old Testament times. Seldom do you find him called by this name; no, sometimes not in three or four books: but now in New Testament times, he is called by no name so often as this, both by the Lord Jesus himself and by the apostles afterwards. Indeed, the Lord Jesus was he that first made this name common among the saints, and that taught them, both in their discourses, their prayers, and in their writings, so much to use it; it being more pleasing to, and discovering more plainly our interest in, God, than any other expression; for by this one name we are made to understand that all our mercies are the offspring of God, and that we also that are called are his children by adoption.

This word “giveth” is out of Christ’s ordinary dialect, and seems intimate, at first, as if the Father’s gift to the Son was not a past act, but one that is present and continuing; when, indeed, this gift was bestowed upon Christ when the covenant, the eternal covenant, was made between them before all worlds. Wherefore, in those other places, when this gift is mentioned, it is still spoken of, as of a past act; as, “All that he hath give me; to as many as thou hast given me; thou gave them me; and those which thou hast given me.”

Therefore, of necessity, this must be the first and chief sense of the text; I mean of this word “giveth,” otherwise the doctrine of election, and of the eternal covenant which was made between the Father and the Son, in which covenant this gift of the Father is most certainly comprised, will be shaken, or at leastwise questionable, by erroneous and wicked men: for they may say, That the Father gave not all those to Christ that shall be saved, before the world was made; for that this act of giving is an act of continuation. But again, this word “giveth” is not to be rejected, for it hath its proper use, and may signify to us—

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Come and Welcome To Jesus Christ, 244.

 

[Second, Those intended as the gift.]—The gift, therefore, in the text, must not be taken in the largest sense, but even as the words will bear, to wit, for such a gift as he accepted, and promised to be an effectual means of eternal salvation to. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Mark! they shall come that are in special given to me, and they shall by no means be rejected. This is the substance of the text.

Those, therefore, intended as the gift in the text, are those that are given by covenant to the Son; those that in other places are called “the elect,” “the chosen,” “the sheep,” and “the children of the promise,” &c. These are they that the Father hath given to Christ to keep them; those that Christ hath promised eternal life unto; those to whom he hath given his word, and that he will have with him in his kingdom to behold his glory.

“This is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39). “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man can pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28). “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Thine they were, and thou gave them me, and they have kept thy word; I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.” “Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou loves me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:1,6,9,10,24).

All these sentences are of the same import with the text; and the

all and many, those, they, &c., in these several sayings of

Christ is the same with all the given in the text. “All that the

Father giveth.”

So that, as I said before, the word ALL, as also other words, must not be taken in such sort as our foolish fancies or groundless opinions will prompt us to, but do admit of an enlargement or a restriction, according to the true meaning and intent of the text. We must therefore diligently consult the meaning of the text, by comparing it with other the sayings of God; so shall we be better able to find out the mind of the Lord, in the word which he has given us to know it by.

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