Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ, 193.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

(1.) Election is eternal as God himself, and so without variableness or shadow of change, and hence it is called "an eternal purpose" and a "purpose of God" that must stand (Eph 3:11; Rom 9:11). (2.) Election is absolute, not conditional, and, therefore, cannot be overthrown by the sin of the man that is wrapped up therein. No works foreseen to be in us were the cause of God's choosing us; no sin in us shall frustrate or make the election void. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies" (Rom 8:33; 9:11). (3.) By the act of election the children are involved, wrapped up, and covered in Christ; he hath chosen us in him; not in ourselves, not in our virtues, no, not for or because of anything, but of his own will (Eph 1:4-11). (4.) Election included in it a permanent resolution of God to glorify his mercy on the vessels of mercy, thus foreordained unto glory (Rom 9:15,18,23). (5.) By electing love, it is concluded that all things shall work together for the good of them whose call to God is the fruit of this purpose, this eternal purpose of God (Rom 8:28-30). (6.) The eternal inheritance is by a covenant of free and unchangeable grace made over to those thus chosen; and to secure them from the fruits of sin, and from the malice of Satan, it is sealed by this our Advocate's blood, as he is Mediator of this covenant, who also is become surety to God for them; to wit, to see them forthcoming at the great day, and to set them then safe and sound before his Father's face after the judgment is over (Rom 9:23; Heb 7:22; 9:15,17-24; 13:20; John 10:28,29). (7.) By this choice, purpose, and decree, the elect, the concerned therein, have allotted them by God, and laid up for them, in Christ, the sufficiency of grace to bring them through all difficulties to glory; yea, and they, every one of them, after the first act of faith-the which also they shall certainly attain, because wrapped up in the promise for them-are to receive the earnest and first-fruits thereof into their souls (II Tim 1:9; Acts 14:22; Eph 1:4,5,13,14).

Now, put all these things together, and then feel if there be no weight in this plea of Christ against the devil. He pleads God's choice and interest in his saints against his interest that is secured by the wisdom of heaven, by the grace of heaven, by the power, will, and mercy of God, in Christ-an interest in which all the three Persons in the Godhead have engaged themselves, by mutual agreement and operation, to make good when Satan has done his all. I know some object against this doctrine as false; but such, perhaps, are ignorant of some things else. However, they object against the wisdom of God, whose truth it is, and against Christ our Advocate, whose argument, as he is such, it is; yea, they labor, what in them lieth, to wrest that weapon out of his hand, with which he so cudgeled the enemy when, as Advocate, he pleaded so effectually against him for the rescuing of us from the danger of judgment, saying, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee."

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ, 192.

 

2. God’s interest in these people, and pray that God will remember that: “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee.” True, the church, the saints, are despicable in the world; wherefore men do think to tread them down; the saints are, also, weak in grace, but have strong corruptions, and, therefore, Satan, the god of this world, doth think to tread them down; but the saints have a God, the living, the eternal God, and, therefore, they shall not be trodden down; yea, they “shall be held up, for God can make them stand” (Rom 14:4).

It was Haman’s mishap to be engaged against the queen and the kindred of the queen; it was that that made him he could not prosper; that brought him to contempt and the gallows. Had he sought to ruin other people, probably he might have brought his design to a desired conclusion, but his compassing the death of the queen spoiled all. Satan, also, when he fighteth against the church, must be sure to come to the worst, for God has a concern in that; therefore, it is said, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” but this hindereth not, but that he is permitted to make almost what spoils his will of those that do not belong to God. Oh, how many doth he accuse, and soon get out from God, against them, a license to destroy them! as he served Ahab, and many more. But I say this is a great block in his way when he meddles with the children; God has an interest in them. Has God cast away his people? God forbid!” (Rom 11:1,2). The text intimates that they, for sin, had deserved it and that Satan would fain have had it been so, but God’s interest in them preserved them: God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew.” Therefore, when Satan accuses them before God, Christ, as he pleaded for his own worth and merit, pleaded also against him for the interest that God has in them.

And though this, to some, may seem an indifferent plea, for what engagement lieth, may they say, upon God to be so much concerned with them, for they sin against him and often provoke him most bitterly? Besides, in their best state, they are altogether vanity and a very thing of naught: What is man (sorry, man), that thou art mindful of him,” or that thou shouldest be so?

I answer, Though there lieth no engagement upon God for any worthiness in man, yet there lieth a great deal upon God for the worthiness in himself. God has engaged himself with his having chosen them to be a people to himself, and by this means they are so secured from all that all can do against them that the apostle is bold, upon this very account, to challenge all despite doing its worst against them, saying, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” (Rom 8:33). Who? saith Satan; why, that will I. Ay, saith he, but who can do it and prevail? “It is God that justifies; who is he that condemns?” (ver. 34). In these words, the apostle clearly declares that charges against the elect, though they may be brought against them, must prove ineffectual as to their condemnation because their Lord God still will justify it, for that Christ has died for them. Besides, a little to enlarge, the elect are bound to God by a sevenfold cord, and a threefold one is not quickly broken.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 191

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

1. He pleads against him the well-pleasedness that his Father has in his merits, saying, This shall please the Lord, or this doth or will please the Lord, better than anything that can be propounded (Psa 69:31). Now that this plea is true, as it is established upon the liking of God Almighty, whatever Satan can say to obtain our everlasting destruction is without ground and so unreasonable. "I am well pleased," saith God (Matt 3:17), and again, "The Lord is well pleased for his (Christ's) righteousness' sake" (Isa 42:21). All those who take actions against others pretend that wrong is done, either against themselves or against the king. Now Satan will never enter an action against us in the court above, for that wrong by us has been done to himself; he must pretend, then, that he sues us, for that wrong has, by us, been done to our king. But, behold, "We have an Advocate with the Father," and he has made compensation for our offenses. He gave himself for our offenses. But still, Satan maintains his suit, and our God, saith Christ, is well pleased with us for this compensation's sake, yet he will not leave off his clamor. Come, then, says the Lord Jesus, the contention is not now against my people but against myself and about the sufficiency of the amends that I have made for the transgressions of my people; but he is near that justifies me, that approves and accepts of my doings; therefore, shall I not be confounded? Who is my adversary?

 Let him come near me! Behold, "the Lord God will help me" (Isa 50:7-9). Who is he who condemns me? Lo, they all shall, were there ten thousand times as many more of them, wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. Wherefore, if the Father saith Amen to all this, as I have shown already that he hath and doth, the which also further appeareth, because the Lord God has called him the Saviour, the Deliverer, and the Amen; what follows, but that a rebuke should proceed from the throne against him? And this, indeed, our Advocate calls for from the hand of his Father, saying, O enemy, "the Lord rebuke thee"; yea, he doubles this request to the judge, to intimate his earnestness for such a conclusion, or to show that the enemy shall surely have it, both from our Advocate and from him before whom Satan has so grievously accused us (Zech 3).

For what can be expected to follow from such an issue in law as this is, but sound and severe snibs from the judge upon him that hath thus troubled his neighbor, and that hath, in the face of the country, cast contempt upon the highest act of mercy, justice, and righteousness, that ever the heavens beheld? And all this is true regarding the case in hand, wherefore, "The Lord rebuke thee," is that which, in conclusion, Satan must have for the reward of his works of malice against the children and for his contemplation of the works of the Son of God. Now, our Advocate having thus established, by the law of heaven, his plea with God for us against our accuser, there is a way made for him to proceed upon a foundation that cannot be shaken; therefore, he proceeded in his plea and further urges against this accuser of the brethren.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 190.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

What is heaven without God? What is ease without the peace and enjoyment of God? What is deliverance from hell without the enjoyment of God? Propounding, therefore, these and only these, to thyself for thy happiness in thy coming to Jesus Christ is a proposal, not a hair's breadth higher than what a man without grace can propound. What or who is he that would not go to heaven? What or who is he that would not also have eased from the guilt of sin? And where is the man who chooses to go to hell? But there are many there who cannot abide in God; no, they like not to go to heaven because God is there. If the devil had heaven to bestow upon men, a vicious and beastly heaven, if it were lawful thus to speak, I would pawn my soul upon it, was it a thousand times better than it is, that, upon a bare invitation, the foul fiend would have twenty to God's one. They, I say, cannot abide God; nay, for all, the devil has nothing but hell for them; yet how thick men go to him, but how thinly to God Almighty. The nature of God lies in the lusts of men. This spoils all a holy God, a glorious holy God, an infinitely holy God. But to the soul that is awakened, and that is made to see things as they are; to him, God is what he is in himself, the blessed, the highest, the only eternal good, and he without the enjoyment of whom all things would sound but emptily in the ears of that soul. Now, then, I advise thee that hast a mind to come to God by Christ that thou seek the knowledge of God—' If thou seekest wisdom as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.' (Prov 2:4,5) And to encourage you yet further, he is so desirous of communion with men that he pardons sins for that. Hence, he is called not only loving but also loving. 'God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.' (1 John 4:16)

Methinks, when I consider what glory there is at times upon the creatures and that all their glory is the workmanship of God, O Lord, say I, what is God himself? He may well be called the God of glory, as well as the glorious Lord; for as all glory is from him, so in him is an inconceivable well-spring of glory, of glory to be communicated to them that come by Christ to him. Therefore, let the glory, love, bliss, and eternal happiness in God allure you to come to him by Christ.

8. As thou shouldst, nay, must, have a good knowledge of all these, so thou must have it of judgment to come. They that come to God by Christ are said to 'flee from the wrath to come'; to 'flee for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them.' (Matt 3:7, Heb 6:18)

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 189.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

But thou must take heed of all these, for he justifies us by none of these means, and thou dost need to be justified. I say he justifies us, not either by giving us laws or by becoming our example, or by our following of him in any sense, but by his blood shed for us. His blood is not laws, nor ordinances, nor commandments, but a price, a redeeming price. (Rom 5:7-9, Rev 1:5) He justifies us by bestowing upon us, not by expecting from us; he justifies us by his grace, not by our works. (Eph 1:7) In a word, thou must be well grounded in the knowledge of what Christ is and how men are justified by him, or thou wilt not come unto God by him.

As thou must know him and how men are justified by him, so thou must know the readiness that is in him to receive and to do for those what they need that come unto God by him. Suppose his merits were never so efficacious, yet if it could be proved that there is a loath in him that these merits should be bestowed upon the coming ones, there would be but a few adventures to wait upon him. But now, as he is full, he is free. Nothing pleases him better than to give what he has away and to bestow it upon the poor and needy. And it will be convenient that thou who art a coming soul shouldst know this for thy comfort to encourage thee to come to God by him. Take two or three sayings of his to confirm what is now said. 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.' (Matt 11:28) 'All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.' (John 6:37) 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' (Mark 2:17) 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.' (1 Tim 1:15)

7. As a man that would come to God by Christ must, antecedent to his so coming, know himself, what he is; the world, how empty it is; the law, how severe it is; death, and what it is; and Christ, and what he is; so also he must know God. 'He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.' (Heb 11:6) God must be known, else how can the sinner propound him as his end, his ultimate end? For so doth everyone that indeed doth come to Christ aright; he comes to Christ because he is the way; he comes to God because he is the end. But, I say, if he knows him not, how can he propound him as the end? The end is that for the sake of which I propound to myself anything, and for the sake of which I use any means. Now, then, I would be saved; but why? Even because I would enjoy God. I use the means to be saved; and why? Because I would enjoy God. I am sensible that sin has made me come short of the glory of God, and that Christ Jesus is the only he that can put me into a condition of obtaining the glory of God; therefore, I come to God by him. (Rom 3:23, 5:1,2)

But, I say again, who will propound God for his end that knows him not, that knows him not aright? yea, that knows him not, to be worth being propounded as my end in coming to Jesus Christ; and he that thus knows him must know him to be above all, best of all, and him in whom the soul shall find that content, that bliss, that glory and happiness that can by no means be found elsewhere. And, I say, if this be not found in God, the soul will never propound him to itself as the only, highest, and ultimate end in its coming to Jesus Christ. But it will propound something else, even what it shall imagine to be the best good; perhaps heaven, perhaps ease from guilt, perhaps to be kept out of hell, or the like. I do not say but a man may propound all these to himself, in his coming to Jesus Christ; but if he proclaims these as his ultimate end, as the chiefest good that he seeks; if the presence and enjoyment of God, of God's glorious majesty, be not his chief design, he is not concerned in the salvation that is propounded in our text—'He is able,' and so will 'save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him.'

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 188.

 

Now if death should surprise and seize thee before thou art fit to die, all is lost; for there is no repentance in the grave, or rather, as the wise man has it, ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goes.’ (Eccl 9:10)

Death is God’s sergeant, God’s bailiff, and he arrests in God’s name when he comes, but seldom gives warning before he clappeth us on the shoulder; and when he arrests us, though he may stay a little while and give us leave to pant, tumble, and toss ourselves for a while upon a bed of languishing, yet, at last, he will prick our bladder and let out our life, and then our soul will be poured upon the ground, yea, into hell, if we are not ready and prepared for the life everlasting. He that does not watch for and is not afraid lest death should prevent him, will not make haste to God by Christ. What Job said of temporal afflictions: such a one will death be if thou art not aware—’ When I looked for good, then evil came—The days of affliction prevented me.’ (Job 30:26,27) If thou lookest, or beginnest to look for good, and the day of death shall cut thee off before thou hast found that good thou lookest for, all is lost, soul, and life, and heaven, and all. Therefore, it is convenient that thou conclude the grave is thy house and that thou make thy bed once a day in the grave; also, that thou say unto corruption, ‘Thou art my father; to the worm, thou art my mother and my sister.’ (Job 17:13,14) I say, be acquainted with the grave and death. The fool puts the evil day far away, but the wise man brings it near. Better be ready to die seven years before death comes than want one day, one hour, one moment, one tear, and one sorrowful sigh at the remembrance of the ill-spent life that I have lived. This, then, is that which I admonish thee of; namely, that thou know death, what it is, and what it doth when it comes. Also, thou consider well the danger that death leaves that man in, to whom he comes before he is ready and prepared to be laid by it in the grave.

6. Thou must also be made by thy awakenings to see what Christ is. This is of absolute necessity; for how can or shall a man be willing to come to Christ who knows not what he is or what God has appointed him to do? He is the Saviour, every man will say so; but to sense, smell, and taste what saving is, and so to understand the nature of the office and work of a Saviour, is a rare thing, kept close from most, known but by some. Jesus of Nazareth is the Savior, or reconciler, of men to God in the body of his flesh through death. (Col 1:19-21) This is he whose business in coming from heaven to earth was to save his people from their sins. Now, as was said, to know how he doth this is that which is needful to be inquired into; for some say he doth it one way, some say he doth it another; and it must be remembered that we are now speaking of the salvation of that man who, from new or first awakenings, is coming to God by Christ for life. (1.) Some say he does it by giving us precepts and laws to keep, that we might be justified thereby. (2.) Some say that he does it by setting himself a pattern for us to follow. (3.) Some again hold that he doth it by our following the light within.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 187.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

Christ, therefore, often insinuated the truth of hell in his invitations to the sinners of this world to come to him, as where he tells them they shall be saved if they do, they shall be damned if they do not. As if he had said, there is a hell, a terrible hell, and they that come to me, I will save them from it; but they that come not, the law will damn them in it. Therefore, that thou mayest indeed come to God by Christ for mercy, believe there is a hell, a woeful, terrible place. Hell is God's creature; 'he hath made it deep and large'! The punishments are the lashes of his wrath, which will issue from his mouth like a stream of burning brimstone, ever kindling itself upon the soul. (Isa 30:33) Thou must know this by the Word, and fly from it, or thou shalt know it by thy sins, and lie and cry in it.

I might enlarge, but if I did, I should be swallowed up; for we are while here no more able to set forth the torments of hell than we are whole here to set forth the joys of heaven; only this may, and ought to be said, that God is able, as to save, so to cast into hell. (Luke 12:5) And as he can make heaven sweet, good, pleasurable, and glorious beyond thought; so he can make the torments of hell so exquisite, so hot, so sharp, so intolerable, that no tongue can utter it, no, not the damned in hell themselves. (Isa 64:4) If thou lovest thy soul, slight not the knowledge of hell, for that, with the law, are the spurs which Christ useth to prick souls forward to himself withal. What is the reason that sinners can play so delightfully with sin? It is for that they forget there is a hell for them to descend into for their so doing when they go out of this world. For here usually, he gives our stop to a sinful course; we perceive that hell hath opened her mouth before us. Lest thou shouldst forget, I beseech thee, another time, to retain the knowledge of hell in thine understanding and apply the burning-hot thoughts thereof to thy conscience; this is one way to make thee gather up thy heels and mend thy pace in thy coming to Jesus Christ and to God the Father by him.13

5. It is also necessary that he who cometh to God by the Lord Jesus should know what death is and the uncertainty of its approach upon us. Death is, as I may call it, the feller, the cutter down. Death is that which puts a stop to further living here and that which lays man where judgment finds him. If he is in the faith in Jesus, it lays him down there to sleep till the Lord comes; if he is not in the faith, it lays him down in his sins till the Lord comes. (Heb 11:13, 1 Thess 4:14, Job 20:11) Again, if thou hast some beginnings that look like good and death should overtake thee before those beginnings are ripe, thy fruit will wither, and thou wilt fall short of being gathered into God's barn. Some men are 'cut off as the tops of the ears of corn,' and some are even nipped by death in the very bud of their spring; but the safety is when a man is ripe and shall be gathered to his grave, as a shock of corn to the barn in its season. (Job 24:20–24, 5:26)

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 186.

 

(a.) The law charges thee with its curse, as well for the pollution of thy nature, as for the defilements of thy life; yea, and if thou hadst never committed sinful act, thy pollution of nature must stand in thy way to life if thou comest not to God for mercy by Christ.

(b.) The law takes notice of, and chargeth thee with its curse, as well for sinful thoughts as for vile and sinful actions. ‘The [very] thought of foolishness is sin,’ (Prov 24:9), though it never breaks out into act, and will as surely merit the damnation of the soul as will the greatest transgression in the world.

(c.) If now thou couldst keep all the commandments, that will do thee no good at all, because thou hast sinned first: ‘The soul that sinneth shall die.’ Unless, then, thou canst endure the curse, and so legally overcome it for the sins that thou hast committed, thou art gone, if thou comest not to God by Christ for mercy and pardon.

(d.) And never think of repentance, thereby to stop the mouth of the law; for the law calleth not for repentance, but life; nor will it accept of any, shouldst thou mourn and weep for thy sins till thou hast made a sea of blood with tears. This, I say, thou must know, or thou wilt not come to God by Christ for life. For the knowledge of this will cause that thou shalt neither slight the severity of the law, nor trust to the works thereof for life. Now, when thou doest neither of these, thou canst not but speed thee to God by Christ for life; for now, thou hast no stay; pleasures are gone, all hope in thyself is gone. Thou now diest, and that is the way to love; for this inward death is, or feels like a hunger-bitten stomach, that cannot but crave and gape for meat and drink. Now it will be as possible for thee to sleep with thy finger in the fire, as to forbear craving of mercy so long as this knowledge remains.

4. As a man must know himself, the emptiness of this world, and the law, so he must know that there is a hell, and how insupportable the torments of it are; for all threatenings, curses, and determinations to punish in the next world will prove but fictions and scarecrows if there be no woeful place, no woeful state, for the sinner to receive his wages in for sin when his days are ended in this world. Wherefore, this word ‘saved’ supposeth such a place and state. He can save from hell, from the woeful place, from the woeful state of hell, them that come unto God by him.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 185.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

3. As a man must know himself, how vile he is, and the world, how empty it is, he must also know the law, how severe it is; otherwise, he will not come to God by Jesus Christ, our Lord.

A man under awakening is under a double danger of falling short of coming to God by Christ. If he knows not the severity of the law, he is either in danger of slighting its penalty or of seeking to make amends to it by doing good works, and nothing can keep him from splitting his soul upon one of these two rocks, but a sound knowledge of the severity of the law.

(1.) He is in danger of slighting the penalty. This is seen by the practice of all the profane in the world. Do they not know the law? Verily, many of them can say the Ten Commandments without a book. But they do not know the severity of the law, and therefore, when awakenings come upon their consciences, they strive to drive away the guilt of one sin by wallowing in the filth of another.

But would they do this if they knew the severity of the law? They would as soon eat fire. The severity of the law would be an intolerable, insupportable burden to their consciences; it would drive them and make them fly for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them.

(2.) Or if he slights the penalty, he will seek to make amends for it by doing good works for the sins he has committed. This is manifested by the practice of the Jews and Turks and all that swerve on that hand—to wit, to seek life and happiness by the law. Paul was also here before he met Jesus on the way. This is natural to consciences that are awakened unless also they have given to them to see the true severity of the law; the which that thou mayest do, if my mite will help, I will cast in for thy conviction these four things—

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 184.

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

2. As he must know himself and what a wretch he is, so he must know the world and what an empty thing it is. Cain did see himself, but saw not the emptiness of this world; therefore, instead of going to God by Christ, he went to the world, and there did take him up to his dying day. (Gen 4:16) The world is a great snare to the soul, even to the souls of awakened sinners, because of its big looks and the fair promises that it makes to those that will please entertain it. It will also make it seem as though it could do as much to quiet the spirit as either a sermon, Bible, or preacher. Yeah, and it has its followers ready at its heels continually to blow its applause abroad, saying, 'Who will show us any [other] good?' (Psa 4:6) and though 'this their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings.' (Psa 49:13) So that unless a man, under some awakenings, sees the emptiness of the world, he will take up the good things thereof and not come to God by Christ. There are many now in hell that can seal this for truth. It was the world that awakened Cain, Judas, and Demas. Yea, Balaam, though he had some kind of vision of God, was kept by the world from coming to him aright. See with what earnestness the young man in the gospel came to Jesus Christ, and that for eternal life. He ran to him, kneeled down to him, and asked, before a multitude, 'Good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?' (Mark 10:17-24) And yet, when he was told he could not come, the world soon stepped between that life and him and persuaded him to take up with itself; and so, for all we know, he never looked after life more.

Four things in the world have a tendency to lull an awakened man asleep if God also makes him not afraid of the world.

(1.) There is the bustle and number of the world that will call a man off from looking after the salvation of his soul. This is intimated by the parable of the thorny ground. (Luke 8:14) Worldly cumber is a devilish thing; it will hurry a man from his bed without prayer to a sermon, and from it again without prayer; it will choke prayer, it will choke the Word, it will choke convictions, it will choke the soul, and cause that awakening shall be to no saving purpose.

(2.) There is the friendship of this world, to which, if a man is not mortified, there is no coming for him to God by Christ. And a man can never be mortified by it unless he sees the emptiness and vanity of it. Whoever makes himself a friend of this world is the enemy of God. And how, then, can he come to him through Christ? (James 4:4)

(3.) There are the terrors of the world; if a man stands in fear of them, he also will not come to God by Christ. The fear of man brings a snare. How many have, in all ages, been kept from coming to God aright by the terrors of the world? Yea, how many are there to one's thinking who have almost got to the gates of heaven and have been scared and driven quite back again by nothing but the terrors of this world? This is that which Christ so cautioned his disciples about, for he knew it was a deadly thing. Peter also bids the saints to beware of this as something very destructive. (Luke 12:4-6, 1 Peter 3:14,15)

(4.) There is also the glory of the world, an absolute hindrance to convictions and awakenings, to wit, honors, and greatness, and preferments: 'How can ye believe,' said Christ, 'which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only.' (John 5:44) If therefore a man is not in his affections crucified to these, it will keep him from coming to God aright.