Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.63

 

[Through sin the soul sets itself against God.]

Third, so That you may better perceive that the soul, through sin, has set itself against God, I will propose, and speak briefly about these two things:

I. The law II. The gospel.

I. For the law. God has given it as a rule of life, either as written in their natures, or as inserted in the Holy Scriptures; I say, as a rule of life for all the children of men. But what have men done, or how have they carried it to this law of their Creator; Let us see, and that from the mouth of God himself.

1. 'They have not hearkened unto My words' (Jer 6:19).

2. 'They have forsaken My law' (Jer 9:13).

3. They 'have forsaken Me, and have not kept My law' (Jer 16:11).

4. They have not 'walked in My law, nor in My statutes' (Jer 44: 4).

5. 'Her priests have violated My law' (Eze 22:26).

6. And, saith God, 'I have written to him the great things of My law, but they were counted as a strange thing.' (Hos 8:12).

Now, from whence should all this disobedience arise? Not from the unreasonableness of the commandment, but from the opposition that is lodged in us against God, and the enmity that it entertains against goodness. Hence the apostle speaks of the enmity, and says, that men are enemies in their minds, and souls, as is manifest by wicked works (Col 1:21). This, if men went no further, must need to be highly provoking to a just and holy God: yea, so highly offensive is it, that, to show the heat of His anger, He saith, 'Indignation and wrath, tribulation, and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil,' and this evil with a witness, 'of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile,' that does evil (Rom 2:8, 9). That breath the law; for that evil, He is crying out now. But,

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.62

[How sin, by the help of the soul, destroys it.]

But, as I said, when the imagination hath thus set forth sin to the rest of the faculties of the soul, they are presently entangled, and fall into a flame of love thereto; this being done, it follows that a purpose to pursue this motion, till it be brought unto act, is the next thing that is resolved on. Thus Esau, after he had conceived of the profit that would accrue to him by murdering his brother, fell next into a resolve to spill Jacob's blood. And Rebecca sent for Jacob, and said unto him, 'Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee' (Gen 27:42). See also (Jer 49:30). Nor is this purpose to do evil without its fruit, for he comforted himself in his evil purpose: 'Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.'

The purpose, therefore, being concluded, in the next place the invention is diligently set to work to find out what means, methods, and ways, will be thought best to bring this purpose into practice, and this motion to sin into action. Esau invented the death of his brother when his father was to be carried to his grave (Gen 27:41). David purposed to make Uriah's father his bastard child by making him drunk (2 Sam 11:13). Amnon purposed to ravish Tamar, and the means that he invented to do it were by feigning himself sick. Absalom purposed to kill Amnon, and invented to do it at a feast (2 Sam13:32). Judas purposed to sell Christ, and invented to betray him in the absence of the people (Luke 22:3-6). The Jews purposed to kill Paul and invented to entreat the judge of a blandation26 to send for him, that they might murder him as he went (Acts 23:12-15).

Thus you see how sin is, in the motion of it, handed through the soul—first, it comes into the fancy or imagination, by which it is so presented to the soul, as to inflame it with a desire to bring it into the act; so from this desire the soul proceeds to a purpose of enjoying, and from a purpose of enjoying to inventing how, or by what means, it had best to attempt the accomplishing of it.

But, further, when the soul has thus far, by its wickedness, pursued the motion of sin to bring it into action, then to the last thing; to wit, to endeavors, to take the opportunity, which, by the invention, is judged most convenient; so to endeavors, it goes, till it has finished sin, and finished, in finishing of that, its own fearful damnation. 'Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death' (James 1:15).

And who knows, but God and the soul, how many lets, hindrances, convictions, fears, frights, misgivings, and thoughts of the judgment of God, all this while are passing and repassing, turning and returning, over the face of the soul? How many times is the soul made to start, look back, and tremble, while it is pursuing the pleasure, profit, applause, or preferment that sin, when finished, promises to yield to the soul? for God is such a lover of the soul, that He seldom lets it go on in sin, but He cries to it, by His Word and providences, 'Oh! do not this abominable thing that I hate!' (Jer 44: 4); especially at first, until it shall have hardened itself, and so provoked Him to give it up in sin-revenging judgment to its own ways and doings, which is the most terrible judgment under heaven; and this brings me to the third thing, which I now will speak to.

3. As the soul receives, detains, entertains, and wilily works to bring sin from motion into the act, so it abhorreth to be controlled and taken off of this work—"My soul loathed them,' says God, 'and their soul also abhorred Me' (Zech 6:8). My soul loathed them because they were so bad, and their souls abhorred Me because I am so good. Sin, then, is the cause of the loss of the soul; because it hath set the soul, or, rather, because the soul of love for sin has set itself against God. 'Woe unto their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves (Isa 3:9).

 

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.61

 

[How sin, by the help of the soul, destroys it.]

Secondly, That I may yet show you what a great thing sin is with the soul that is to be damned, I will show how corruption, with the help of the soul, is managed, from the motion of sin, even till it comes to the very act; for sin cannot come to an action without the help of the soul. The body does little here, as I shall further show you.

There is then a motion of sin presented to the soul (and whether presented by evil itself or the devil, we will not at this time dispute); motions of sin, and motions to sin there are, and always the end of the motions of sin is to prevail with the soul to help that motion into an act. But, I say, there is a motion to sin in the soul; or, as James calls it, a conception. Now behold how the soul deals with this motion in order to finish sin, that death might follow (Rom 7:5).

1. This motion is taken notice of by the soul, but is not resisted nor striven against, only the soul lifts up its eyes upon it and sees that there is present a motion to sin, a motion of sin presented to the soul, that the soul might midwife it from conception into the world.

2. Well, notice being taken that a motion to sin is present, what follows is that the fancy or imagination of the soul takes it home to it, and does not only look upon it and behold it more narrowly but begins to trick and trim up the sin to the pleasing of itself and of all the powers of the soul. That this is true, is evident, because God finds fault with the imagination as with that which lends itself to sin in the first place, and that gives it the first lift towards being helped forward to act. 'And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth' (Gen 6:5, 12, 13). That is, many abominable actions were done; for all flesh had corrupted God's way upon the earth. But how came this to be so?

Why, every imagination of the thoughts, or of the motions that were in the heart to sin, was evil, only evil, and that continuously. The imagination of the thoughts was evil—that is, such as tended not to deaden or stifle, but such as tended to animate and forward the motions or thoughts of sin into action. Every imagination of the thoughts—that which is here called a thought, by Paul to the Romans, called a motion. Now the imagination should, and would, had it been on God's side, have so conceived of this motion of and to sins, all to have presented it in all its features as so ugly, so ill-favored, and so unreasonable a thing to the soul, that the soul should forthwith have let down the sluice, and pulled up the drawbridge, putting a stop, with the greatest defiance, to the motion now under consideration; but the imagination being defiled, it presently, at the very first view or noise of the motion of sin, so acted as to bring the said motion or thought into act. So, then, the thought of sin, or motion thereto, is first of all entertained by the imagination and fancy of the soul, and thence conveyed to the rest of the powers of the soul to be condemned, if the imagination is good; but to be helped forward to the act, if the imagination is evil.

And thus the evil imagination helps the motion of and the sin towards the act, even by dressing it up in that guise and habit that may best delude the understanding, judgment, and conscience; and that is done in this manner: Supposing a motion of sin to commit fornication, to swear, to steal, to act covetously, or the like, be propounded to the fancy and imagination; the imagination, if evil, presently dresses up this motion in that garb that best suits the nature of the sin. As, if it be the lust of uncleanness, then is the motion to sin dressed up in all the imaginable pleasurableness of that sin; if to covetousness, then is the sin dressed up in the profits and honors that attend that sin; and so of theft and the like; but if the motion be to swear, hector, or the like, then is that motion dressed up with valor and manliness; and so you may count of the rest of sinful motions; and thus being trimmed up like a Bartholomew baby, it is presented to all the rest of the powers of the soul, wherewith joint consent it is admired and embraced, to the firing and inflaming all the powers of the soul.

Hence it is that men are said to inflame themselves with their idols under every green tree. 'And to be as fed horses, neighing after their neighbor's wife' (Jer 5:8). For the imagination is such a forcible power, that if it putteth forth itself to dress up and present a thing to the soul, whether that thing be evil or good, the rest of the faculties cannot withstand it. Therefore, when David prayed for the children of Israel, he said, 'I have seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee;' that is, for preparations to build the temple. 'O Lord God,' saith he, 'keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare their hearts unto Thee' (1 Chron 29:17, 18). He knew that as the imagination was prepared, so would the soul be moved, whether by evil or good; therefore, as to this, he prays that their imagination might be engaged with apprehensions of the beauteousness of the temple, that they might always, as now, offer willingly for its building.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.60

 

[Sin the cause of the loss of his soul.]

3. Again; as the soul receives and retains sin, so it also entertains it—that is, countenances, smiles upon it, and likes its complexion and nature well. A man may detain—that is, hold fast—a thing that he does not regard; but when he entertains, he countenances, likes, and delights in the company. Sin, then, is first received by the soul, as has been explained, and by that reception, it is polluted and defiled. This makes it hateful in the eyes of justice: it is now polluted. Then, secondly, this sin is not only received but retained—that is, it sticks so fast, abides so fixedly in the soul, that it cannot be gotten out; this is the cause of the continuation of abhorrence; for if God abhors because there is a being of sin there, it must be that he should continue to abhor, since sin continues to have a being there. But then, in the third place, sin is not only received, detained, but entertained by the now defiled and polluted soul; wherefore this must need to be a cause of the continuance of anger, and that with aggravation. When I say, entertained, I do not mean as men entertain their enemies, with small and great shots, but as they entertain those whom they like and those that get into their affections. And therefore the wrath of God must certainly be let out upon the soul, to the everlasting damnation of it.

Now that the soul doth thus entertain sin, is manifest by these several particulars:

(1.) It hath admitted it with complacence and delight into every chamber of the soul; I mean, it has been delightfully admitted to entertainment by all the powers or faculties of the soul. The soul hath chosen it rather than God: it also, at God's command, refuseth to let it go; yea, it chooseth that doctrine, and loveth it best, since it must have a doctrine, that has most of sin and baseness in it (Isa 65:12; 66:3). They 'say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits' (Isa 30:10). These are signs that the soul with liking hath entertained sin; and if there be at any time, as indeed there is, a warrant issued out from the mouth of God to apprehend, to condemn, and mortify sin, why then,

(2.) These shifts the souls of sinners do presently make for the saving of sin from those things that by the Word men are commanded to do unto it—

(a) They will, if possible, hide it, and not suffer it to be discovered. 'He that hideth his sins shall not prosper' (Prov 28:13). And again, they hide it, and refuse to let it go (Job 20:12, 13). This is an evident sign that the soul has a favor for sin and by liking it, entertains it.

(b) As it will hide it, so it will excuse it, and plead that this and that piece of wickedness is no such evil thing; men need not be so nice, and make such a fuss about it, calling those that cry out so hotly against it, men more nice than wise. Hence the prophets of old used to be called madmen, and the world would reply against their doctrine, Wherein have we been so wearisome to God, and what have we spoken so much against Him? (Mal 1:6, 7; 3:8, 13).

(c) As the soul will do this, so to save sin, it will cover it with names of virtue, either moral or civil; and of this God greatly complains, yea, breaks into anger for this, saying, 'Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; and put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter' (Isa 5:20)!

(d) If convictions and discovery of sin are so strong and so plain, that the soul cannot deny but that it is sin, and that God is offended therewith; then it will give flattering promises to God that it will indeed put it away; but yet it will prefix a time that shall be long first, if it also then at all performs it, saying, Yet a little sleep, yet a little slumber, yet a little folding of sin in mine arms, till I am older, till I am richer, till I have had more of the sweetness and the delights of sin. Thus, 'their soul delighteth in their abominations' (Isa 66:3).

(e) If God yet pursues, and will see whether this promise of putting sin out of doors shall be fulfilled by the soul, then, it will be partial in God's law; it will put away some, and keep some; put away the grossest, and keep the finest; put away those that can best be spared, and keep the most profitable for a pinch (Mal 2:9).

(f) Yes, if all sin must be abandoned, or the soul shall have no rest, why then, the soul and sin part (with such a parting as it is), even as Phaltiel parted with David's wife, with an ill will and a sorrowful mind; or as Orpha left her mother, with a kiss (2 Sam 3:16; Ruth 1:14).

(g) And if at any time they can, or shall, meet with each other again, and nobody is ever the wiser, O, what courting will be betwixt sin and the soul? And this is called doing things in the dark (Eze 8:12).

By all these, and many more things that might be instanced, it is manifest that sin has a friendly entertainment by the soul and that therefore the soul is guilty of damnation; for what do all these things argue, but that God, His Word, His ways, and His graces, are out of favor with the soul, and that sin and Satan are its only pleasant companions? But,

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul 593

 

[Sin the cause of the loss of his soul.]

[Sin the cause of the loss of his soul.]

2. But as I said, the soul has not only received sin, but also retained it, held it, and showed no kind of resistance. It is enough that the soul is polluted and defiled, for that is sufficient to provoke God to cast it away; for which of you would take a cloth annoyed with stinking, ulcerous sores, to wipe your mouth withal, or to thrust it into your bosoms? and the soul is polluted with far worse pollution than any such thing can be. But this is not all; it retains sin as the wool retains the dye, or as the infected water receives the stench or poisonous scent; I say, it retains it willingly; for all the power of the soul is not only captivated by a seizure of sin upon the soul, but it willingly, heartily, unanimously, universally falleth in with the natural filth and pollution that is in sin, to the estranging of itself from God, and an obtaining of intimacy and compliance with the devil.

Now this being the state and condition of the soul from the belly, yea, from before it sees the light of this world, what can be concluded but that God is offended with it? How can it otherwise be, since there is holiness and justice in God? Hence, those who are born of a woman, whose original is by carnal conception with a man, are said to be serpents as soon as born. 'The wicked (and all at first are so) go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder, that stoppeth her ear' (Psa 58:3, 4). They go astray from the belly; but that they would not do if aught of the powers of their soul were unpolluted. 'But their poison is like the poison of a serpent.' Their poison—what is that? Their pollution, their original pollution, is as poisonous as a serpent—to wit, not only deadly, for poison is, but also hereditary. It comes from the old one, from the sire and dam; yea, it is also now become connatural to and with them, and is of the same date with the child as born into the world. The serpent has not her poison, in the original of it, either from imitation or from other infective things abroad, though it may be such things be helped forward and increased; but she brings it with her in her bowels, in her nature, and it is to her as suitable to her present condition as it is to that which is most sweet and wholesome to other of the creatures. So, then, every soul comes into the world poisoned with sin; nay, as such, which have poison connatural to them; for it has not only received sin as the wool has received the dye, but it retains it. The infection has gotten so deep, it has taken the black so effectively that the tint, the very fire of hell, can never purge the soul therefrom.

And that the soul has received this infection thus early, and that it retains it so surely, is not only signified by children coming into the world besmeared in their mother's blood, and by the firstborn's being redeemed at a month old, but also by the first inclinations and actions of children when they are so brought into the world (Exo 26). Who sees not that lying, pride, disobedience to parents, and hypocrisy, do put forth themselves in children before they know that they do either well or ill in so doing, or before they are capable of learning either of these arts by imitation, or seeing understandingly the same things done first by others? He that sees not that they do it naturally from a principle, from an inherent principle, is either blinded, and has retained his darkness by the same sin as they, or has suffered himself to be swayed by a delusion from him who at first infused this spawn of sin into man's nature.

Nor doth the averseness of children to morality a little demonstrate what has been said; for as it would make a serpent sick, should one give it a strong antidote against his poison, so then are children, and never more than then, disturbed in their minds, when a strict hand and a stiff rein by moral discipline is maintained over and upon them. True, sometimes restraining grace corrects them, but that is not of themselves; but more often, hypocrisy is the great and first moving wheel to all their seeming compliances with admonitions, which indulgent parents are apt to overlook, yea, and sometimes, through unadvisedness, to count for the principles of grace. I speak now of that which comes before conversion. But as I said before, I would not now dispute, only I have thought it good thus to urge these things to make my assertion manifest and to show what is the cause of the damnation of the soul.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.58

 

[OF THE CAUSE OF THE LOSS OF THE SOUL.]

FOURTH, And now I come to the fourth thing—that is, to show you the cause of the loss of the soul. That men have souls, that souls are great things, that souls may be lost, this I have shown you already; wherefore I now proceed to show you the cause of this loss. The cause is laid down in the 18th chapter of Ezekiel, in these words: Behold, all souls,' says God, 'are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die' (5:4).

[Sin the cause of the loss of his soul.]

First, It is sin, then, or sinning against God, that is the cause of dying or damning in hell fire, for that must be meant by dying; otherwise, to die, according to our ordinary acceptance of the notion, the soul is not capable of, it is indeed immortal, as hath been afore asserted. So, then, the soul that sinneth—that is, persevering in the same—that soul shall die, be cast away, or be damned; yea, to ascertain us of the undoubted truth of this, the Holy Ghost doth repeat it again, and that in this very chapter, saying, 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die' (5:20). Now, the soul may be said to sin against God; as, 1. In its receiving of sin into its bosom, and in its retaining and entertaining of it there. Sin must first be received before it can act in, or be acted by, the soul. Our first parents first received it as a suggestion or motion and then acted on it. Now it is not here to be disputed when sin was received by the soul, so much as whether ever the soul received sin; for if the soul has indeed received sin into itself, then it has sinned, and by doing so, has made itself an object of the wrath of God, and a firebrand of hell. I say, I will not here dispute when sin was received by the soul, but it is apparent enough that it received it betimes, because in old time every child that was brought unto the Lord was to be redeemed, and that at a month old, (Exo 13:13; 34:20; Num 18:15, 16); which, to be sure, was very early, and implied that then, even then, the soul in God's judgment stood before Him as defiled and polluted with sin. But although I said I will not dispute at what time the soul may be said to receive sin, yet it is evident that it was precedent to the redemption made mention of just before, and so before the person redeemed had attained the age of a month. And that God might, in the language of Moses, give us to see the cause of the necessity of this redemption, he first distinguisheth, and saith, 'The firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat,' did not need this redemption, for they were clean, or holy. But the firstborn of men, who was taken in lieu of the rest of the children, and the 'firstling of unclean beasts, thou shalt surely redeem,' saith He. But why was the firstborn of men coupled with unclean beasts, but because they are both unclean? The beast was unclean by God's ordination, but the other was unclean by sin. Now, then, it will be demanded, how a soul, before it was a month old, could receive sin to the making of itself unclean? I answer, There are two ways of receiving, one active, the other passive; this last is the way by which the soul at first receiveth sin, and by so receiving, becometh culpable because polluted and defiled by it. And this passive way of receiving is often mentioned in Scripture. Thus the pans received the ashes, (Exo 27:3); thus the molten sea received three thousand baths, (2 Chron 4:5); thus the ground receiveth the seed, (Matt 13:20-23); and this receiving is like that of the wool which receiveth the dye, either black, white, or red; and as the fire that receiveth the water till it be all quenched therewith: or as the water receiveth such stinking and poisonous matter into it, as for the sake of it, it is poured out and spilled upon the ground. But whence should the soul thus receive sin? I answer, from the body, while it is in the mother's belly; the body comes from polluted man, and therefore is polluted (Psa 51: 5). 'Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?' (Job 14:4). The soul comes from God's hand, and therefore as so is pure and clean: but being put into this body, it is tainted, polluted, and defiled with the taint, stench, and filth of sin; nor can this stench and filth be by man purged out, when once from the body got into the soul; sooner may the blackamoor change his skin, or the leopard his spots, than the soul, were it willing, might purge itself of this pollution. 'Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me, saith the Lord God' (Jer 2:22).

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.57

 

[The loss of the soul a loss everlasting.]

2. All the workings of the soul under this punishment are such as to cause it, in its sufferings, to endure that which is eternal. It can have no thought of the end of punishment, but it is presently recalled by the decreed gulf that bindeth them under perpetual punishment. The great fixed gulf, they know, will keep them in their present place, and not suffer them to go to heaven (Luke 16:26). And now there is no other place but heaven or hell to be in; for then the earth, and the works that are therein, will be burned up. Read the text, 'But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also and all the works that are therein, shall be burned up' (2 Peter 3:10). If, then, there will be no third place, it stands in their minds, as well as in God's decree, that their punishments shall be eternal; so, then, sorrows, anguish, tribulation, grief, woe, and pain, will, in every moment of their abiding upon the soul, not only flow from thoughts of what has been, and what is, but also from what will be, and that forever and ever. Thus, every thought that is truly grounded in the cause and nature of their state will roll, toss, and tumble up and down in the cogitations and fearful apprehensions of the lastingness of their damnation. For, I say, their minds, their memories, their understandings, and their consciences will all, and always, be swallowed up with 'forever;' Yea, they themselves will, by the means of these things, be their own tormentors forever.

(3.) There will not be spaces, as days, months, years, and the like, as now; though we make bold so to speak, the better to present our thoughts to each other's capacities; for then there shall be time no longer; also, day and night shall then come to an end. 'He hath compassed the waters with bounds until the day and night come to an end' (Job 26:10). Until the end of light, darkness. Now when time, day, and night come to an end, then there comes eternity, as there was before the day, night, or time, were created; and when this comes, neither punishment nor glory must be measured by days, months, or years, but by eternity itself. Nor shall those concerned either in misery or glory reckon of their now new state, as they need to reckon of things in this world; but they shall be suited in their capacities, in their understandings and apprehensions, to judge and count of their condition according to what will best stand with their state in eternity.

If we could but come to an understanding of things done in heaven and hell, as we understand how things are done in this world, we should be strangely amazed to see how the change of places and of conditions has made a change in the understandings of men, and in the manner of their enjoyment of things. But this we must let alone till the next world and until our launching into it; and then, whether we be of the right or left-hand ones, we shall well know the state and condition of both kingdoms. In the meantime, let us addict ourselves to the belief of the Scriptures of truth, for therein is revealed the way to eternal life, and how to escape the damnation of the soul (Matt 25:33). But thus much for the loss of the soul, unto which let me add, for a conclusion, these verses following:—

    These cry alas! But all in vain;
        They stick fast in the mire;
    They would be rid of present pain,
        Yet set themselves on fire.

    Darkness is their perplexity,
        Yet do they hate the light;
    They always see their misery,
        Yet are themselves, all night.

    They are all dead, yet live they do,
        Yet neither live nor die;
    They die to weal, and live to woe—
        This is their misery.

    Now will confusion so possess,
        These monuments of ire,
    And so confound them with distress,
        And trouble their desire,

    That what to think, or what to do,
        Or where to lay their head,
    They know not: 'tis the damned's woe,
        To live, and yet be dead.

    These castaways would fain have life,
        But now they never shall;
    They would forget their dreadful plight.
        But that sticks fastest of all.    

 God, Christ, and heaven, they know are best,
        Yet dare not on them think;
    They know the saints enjoy their rest,
        While they their tears do drink.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.56

 

[The loss of the soul a loss everlasting.]

There are three things couched under this last head that will fill up the punishment of a sinner. 1. The first is, that it is everlasting. 2. The second is, that, therefore, it will be impossible for the souls in hell ever to say, Now we are got halfway through our sorrows. 3. The third is, and yet every moment they shall endure eternal punishment.

1. The first I have touched upon already, and, therefore, shall not enlarge; only I would ask the wanton or unthinking sinner, whether twenty, or thirty, or forty years of the deceitful pleasures of sin is so rich a prize, as that a man may well venture the ruin, that everlasting burnings will make upon his soul for the obtaining of them, and living a few moments in them. Sinner, consider this before I go any further, or before thou readest one line more. If thou hast a soul, it concerns thee; if there be a hell, it concerns thee; and if there be a God that can and will punish the soul for sin everlastingly in hell, it concerns thee; because,

2. In the second place, it will be impossible for the damned soul ever to say, I am now got halfway through my sorrows. That which has no end has no middle. Sinner, make a round circle, or ring, upon the ground, of whatever bigness thou wilt; this done, go thy way upon that circle, or ring, until thou comest to the end thereof; but that, sayest thou, I can never do; because it has no end. I answer, but thou mayest as soon do that as wade halfway through the lake of fire that is prepared for impenitent souls. Sinner, what wilt thou take to make a mountain of sand that will reach as high as the sun is at noon? I know that thou wilt not be engaged in such a work; because it is impossible that thou shouldst ever perform it. But I dare say the task is greater when the sinner has let out himself to sin for a servant; because the wages is everlasting burnings. I know thou mayest perform thy service; but the wages, the judgment, the punishment is so endless, that thou when thou hast been in it more millions of years than can be numbered, art not, nor never yet shalt be, able to say, I am halfway through it. And yet,

3. That soul shall partake in every moment of that punishment that is eternal. 'Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire' (Jude 7).

(1.) They shall endure eternal punishment in the nature of punishment. There is no punishment here wherewith one man can chastise another that can deserve a greater title than that of transient, or temporary punishment; but the punishment there is eternal, even in every stripe that is given, and in every moment that it grapples with the soul; even every twinge, every gripe, and every stroke that justice inflicted, leave anguish that, of their condition according to what will best stand within the nature of punishment, is eternal behind it. It is eternal, because it is from God, and lasts forever and ever. The justice that it inflicts has no beginning, and it is this justice in the operations that is always dealing with the soul.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.55

 

[The loss of the soul most fearful.]

Thirdly, As the loss of the soul is a loss peculiar to itself, and a double loss, so, in the third place, it is a loss most fearful, because it is a loss attended with the most heavy curse of God. This is manifest both in the giving of the rule of life, and also in, and at the time of execution for, the breach of that rule. It is manifest at the giving of the rule—' Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen (Deu 27:26; Gal 3:10). It is also manifest that it shall be so at the time of execution—"Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels' (Matt 25:41). What this curse is, none do know so well as God, who gives it, and as the fallen angels, and the spirits of damned men that are now shut up in the prison of hell, and bear it. But certainly, it is the chief and highest of all kinds of curses. To be cursed in the basket and in the store, in the womb and in the barn, in my cattle and in my body, are but flea-bitings to this, though they are also insupportable in themselves; only in general may it be described thus. But to touch upon this curse, it lieth in deprivation of all good, and in a being swallowed up of all the most fearful miseries that a holy, just, and eternal God can righteously inflict, or lay upon the soul of a sinful man. Now let Reason here come in and exercise itself in the most exquisite manner; yea, let him now count up all, and all manner of curses and torments that a reasonable and an immortal soul is, or can be made capable of, and able to suffer under, and when he has done, he shall come infinitely short of this great anathema, this master curse, which God has reserved amongst His treasuries, and intends to bring out in that day of battle and war, which He purposeth to make upon damned souls in that day.16 And this God will do, partly as retaliation, as the former, and partly by way of revenge. 1. By way of retaliation: 'As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.'

Again, 'As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones; let it be unto him as a garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually' (Psa 109:17-19). 'Let this,' saith Christ, 17 'be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord' (vs. 20, etc.). 2. As this curse comes by way of retaliation, so it cometh by way of revenge. God will right the wrongs that sinners have done Him, will repay vengeance for the despite and reproach wherewith they have affronted Him and will revenge the quarrel of His covenant. And the beginning of revenges are terrible, (Deu 31:41,42); what, then, will the whole execution be, when He shall come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ? And, therefore, this curse is executed in wrath, in jealousy, in anger, in fury; yea, the heavens and the earth shall be burned up with the fire of that jealousy in which the great God will come when He cometh to curse the souls of sinners, and when He cometh to defy the ungodly, (2 Thess 1: 7-9).

It is little thought of, but the manner of the coming of God to judge the world declares what the souls of impenitent sinners must look for then. It is common among men, when we see the form of a man's countenance change, when we see fire sparkle out of his eyes, when we read rage and fury in every cast of his face, even before he says aught, or doth aught either, to conclude that some fearful thing is now to be done (Dan 3:19, 23). Why, it is said of Christ when He comes to judgment, that the heavens and the earth fly away, as not being able to endure His looks, (Rev 20:11, 12); that His angels are clad in flaming fire, and that the elements melt with fervent heat; and all this is, that the perdition of ungodly men might be completed, 'from the presence of the Lord, in the heat of His anger, from the glory of His power' (2 Pet 3:7; 2 Thes 1:8–9). Therefore, God will now be prevented, and so ease Himself of His enemies, when He shall cause curses like millstones to fall as thick as hail on 'the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses' (Psa 68:2l). But,

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.54

2. As this casting of them away supposed God's abhorrence of them, so it supposed God's just repaying of them for their wickedness by way of retaliation.

God in the exercise of His long-suffering and forbearance towards them, did call upon them, wait upon them, and send after them His messengers, to turn them from their evil ways; but they despised and mocked, the messengers of the Lord. Also, they shut their eyes, and would not see; they stopped their ears, and would not understand; and they hardened themselves against the beseeching of their God. Yea, all that day long He did stretch out His hand towards them, but they chose to be a rebellious and gainsaying people; yea, they said unto God, 'Depart from us;' and 'what is the Almighty' that we should pray unto him? (Hosea 6:2; Rev 16:21; Job 21:14,15; Mal 3:14).

And of all these things, God takes notice, writes them down, seals them up for the time to come, and will bring them out and spread them before them, saying, I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; I have exercised patience, gentleness, and long-suffering towards you, and in all that time you despised Me, and cast Me behind your back; and now the time, and the exercise of My patience, when I waited upon you, and suffered your manners, and did bear your contempts and scorns, is at an end; wherefore I will now arise, and come forth to the judgment that I have appointed.

But, Lord, saith the sinner, we turn now.

But now; saith God, turning is out of season; the day of My patience is ended.

But, Lord, says the sinner, behold our cries.

But you did not, says God, behold nor regard My cries.

But, Lord, saith the sinner, let our beseeching find place in Thy compassions.

But, saith God, I also beseeched, and I was not heard.

But Lord, says the sinner, our sins lie hard upon us.

But I offered you pardon when time was, says God, you did utterly reject it.

But, Lord, says the sinner, let us therefore have it now.

But now the door is shut, saith God.

And what then? Why, then, by way of retaliation, God will serve them as they have served Him; and so the wind-up of the whole will be this—they shall have like for like. Time was when they would have none of Him, and now will God have none of them. Time was when they cast God behind their back, and now He will cast away their soul. Time was when they would not heed His calls, and now He will not heed their cries. Time was when they abhorred Him, and now His soul also abhorreth them (Zech 11:8). This is now by way of retaliation—like for like, scorn for scorn, repulse for repulse, contempt for contempt; according to that which is written, 'Therefore it is come to pass, that as He cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord' (Zech 7:13). And thus, I have also showed you that the loss of the soul is double—lost by man, lost by God.

But oh! who thinks of this? who, I say, that now makes light of God, of His Word, His servants, and ways, once dreams of such retaliation, though God to warn them hath even, in the day of His patience, threatened to do it in the day of His wrath, saying, 'Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all My counsel, and would none of My reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me' (Prov 1:24-28). I will do unto them as they have done unto Me; and what unrighteousness is in all this? But,