Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 390

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

OBJECTIONS TO THE CONTRARY ANSWERED.

‘OF THIS MAN’S SEED HATH GOD, ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE, RAISED UNTO ISRAEL A SAVIOUR, JESUS’—ACTS 13:23.

These words are part of a sermon that Paul preached to the people who lived at Antioch in Pisidia, inhabited by many Jews. The preparation to his discourse, he thus begins—’Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience’ (v 16); by which, having prepared their minds to attend, he proceeds and gives a particular relation of God’s peculiar dealings with his people Israel, from Egypt to the time of David their king, of whom he treated mainly—

That he was the son of Jesse, that he was a king, that God raised him up in mercy, that God gave testimony of him, that he was a man after God’s own heart, that he should fulfill all his will (v 22).

And this he did of purpose was both to engage them more to attend and because they knew that of the fruit of his loins, God hath promised the Messiah should come.

Having thus therefore gathered up their minds to hearken, he presented them with his errand—to wit, that the Messiah was come, and that the promise was indeed fulfilled that a Saviour should be born to Israel—’ Of this man’s seed,’ saith he, ‘hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.’

In this assertion, he concluded—1. The promise had continued in presenting a Saviour to Israel—to wit, in David’s loins—’ Of this man’s seed.’ 2. That the time of the promise was come, and the Saviour was revealed—’ God hath raised unto Israel a Saviour.’ 3. That Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, was he—’ He hath raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.’

From these things, we may inquire about the explication of the words, First. What is this, Jesus? Second. What was it for this Jesus to be of the seed of David? Third. What was it for Jesus to be of this man’s seed according to the promise? And, Fourth, what it was for him to be raised unto Israel? These things may give us light into what shall be spoken after.

Quest. First. What is this, Jesus?

He is God and had personal being from before all worlds; therefore, not such a one as took being when he was formed in the world; he is God’s natural Son, the Eternal Son of his begetting and love—’ God sent forth his Son.’ He was, and was his Son before he was revealed—’What is his name, and what is his Son’s name if thou canst tell?’ (Prov 30:4; Eze 21:10). He hath an eternal generation, such as none can declare, not man, not angel (Isa 53:8). He was the delight of his Father before he had made either mountain or hill. While as yet he had not made the earth or the fields, or the highest part of the dust of the world, all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made, and he is before all things, and by him, all things consist. It is he with whom the Father consulted when he was about to make man when he intended to overthrow Babel, and when he sent Isaiah to harden the hearts of Israel (Prov 8:26; John 1:3; Heb 1:2,3; Col 1:17; Gen 1:26, 11:7; Isa 6:8). This is the person intended in the text. Hence, he also testifies that he came down from the Father and had glory with him before the world was. And ‘what and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?’ (John 6:62, 16:28, 17:5).

Quest. Second. What was it for Jesus to be of David’s seed?

To be of David’s seed is to spring from his loins, to come of his race according to the flesh; therefore, as he is David’s God, so likewise is David’s Son, the root and offspring of David. And this the Lord himself acknowledged, saying, ‘I am the root,’ or God, ‘and the offspring,’ and Son, ‘of David, and the bright and morning star’ (Rev 22:16). This is indeed the great mystery, the mystery of godliness. ‘If David then call him Lord, how is he his Son?’ (Matt 22:45; Luke 2:4; Rom 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8). And hence it is that he is said to be ‘wonderful,’ because he is both God and man in one person—’ Unto us, a child is born, a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful (Isa 9:6). Wonderful indeed! Incredible God, Wonderful man, Wonderful God-man, and a Wonderful Jesus and Saviour. He also hath incredible love, bore wonderful sorrows for our excellent sins, and obtained for HIS a wonderful salvation.

Quest. Third. What was it for Jesus to be of this man’s seed according to the promise?

This word ‘promise’ doth sometimes comprehend all the promises which God made to our fathers, from the first promise to the last, and so the Holy Ghost doth call them—’ The promise made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children’ (Acts 13:32,33). But the word ‘promise’ here doth, in particular, intends that which God made to David himself—’Men and brethren,’ said Peter, ‘let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he, seeing this before, speaks of the resurrection of Christ,’ &c. (Acts 2:29,30).

Quest. Fourth. What was it for Jesus to be raised thus up of God to Israel?

Here, we have two things to consider—1. Who Israel is. 2. What it was for Jesus to be raised up unto them.

1. Who Israel is. By ‘Israel’ sometimes we should understand the whole stock of Jacob, the natural children of his flesh; for that name, they have of him, for he obtained it when he wrestled with the angel and prevailed, and it remained with his seed in their generations (Gen 32). By ‘Israel’, we are to understand all those that God hath promised to Christ—’The children of the promise are counted for the seed,’ the elect Jews and Gentiles. These are called ‘the Israel of God’ and the seed of Abraham, whom Jesus especially regarded in undertaking the work of man’s redemption (Rom 9:8; Gal 6:16; Heb 2:14-16).

2. What it was for Jesus to be raised up unto them. This word ‘raised up’ is diversely taken in the Scripture. (1.) It is taken for ‘sending’; as when he saith he raised them up judges, saviors, and prophets, he means he sent them such, and thus he raised up Jesus—that is, ‘he sent him’ (Judge 2:16,18, 3:9,15; Amos 2:11). ‘I have not spoken of myself; but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment’ (John 12:49). (2.) To be raised up, one must be intimately invested in power and authority. Thus, he raised David to be the king of Israel, anointed him, and invested him in kingly power (1 Sam 16:13; Acts 13:22). Jesus Christ was raised. Hence, he is called ‘the horn of salvation’—’ He hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David’ (Luke 1:69). (3.) To be raised up, intimated quickening and strengthening, to oppose and overcome all opposition. Thus was Jesus raised up from sin, death, the rage of the world, and hell that day that God raised him out of the grave.

Thus, Jesus was raised up to Israel—that is, he was sent, authorized, and strengthened to, and in the work of, their salvation, to complete it.

The words thus opened lay before us these two observations: FIRST, that in all ages, God gave his people a promise, which is so ground for a believing remembrance, that he would one day send them a Saviour. SECOND, that when Jesus came into the world, that promise of God was fulfilled.

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 389

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

OBJECTIONS TO THE CONTRARY ANSWERED.

It was the excellent care of the apostle Paul to deliver his gospel to the churches in its own simplicity because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. And if it was his care to deliver it to us, it should be ours to seek to continue it; and instead, because of the unaptness of the minds, even of the saints themselves, to retain it without commixture. To say nothing of the projects of hell and of the cunning craftiness of some that lie in wait to deceive even the godly themselves, as they are dull of hearing, so much more boring in receiving and holding fast the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. From their sense, reason, unbelief, and darkness arise many imaginations and high thoughts, which exalt themselves against the knowledge of God and the obedience of Jesus Christ, wherefore they have much ado to stand complete in all the will of God. And were they not concerned in electing love, by which they are bound up in the bundle of life, and blessed with the enjoyment of saving grace, which enlighteneth their souls and maintaineth their faith and hope, they would not only be assaulted and afflicted with their own corruptions but, as others, overcome thereby.

Alas! How ordinary a thing is it for professors to fall from the knowledge they have had of the glorious gospel of the blessed God and to be turned unto fables, seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils through the intoxications of delusions and the witchcraft of false preachers.

Now, this their swerving from the gospel ariseth, 1. Either from their not having, or having, not retaining, the proper knowledge of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ; or

2. From their not believing the true causes of his coming into the world and his doing and suffering there. Upon one or both these accounts, I say, it is that they everlastingly perish; for if they have not, and do not also retain the knowledge of his person, they want the HE, on whom, if they believe not, they must die in their sins; and if they know not the reason of his coming, doing, and suffering, they are in the same condition also.

Now, those professors that have had some knowledge of these things and yet have lost them, it hath come thus to pass with them because they first lost the knowledge of themselves and their sins. They know not themselves to be such nothing ones as the Scriptures reporteth them to be, nor their sins to be so heinous as the law hath concluded; therefore, they either turn again with the dog to his vomit or adhere to a few of the rags of their own fleshly righteousness, and so become pure in their own eyes, yet are not purged by blood from their filthiness.

For the person and doings of Jesus Christ are only precious to them that get and retain the proper knowledge of themselves and the due reward of their sins by the law. These are desolate, being driven out of all; these embrace the rock instead of a shelter. The sensible sinner receiveth him joyfully.

And because a miscarriage in this great truth is the most dangerous and damning miscarriage, therefore, should professors be more fearful of swerving aside from that place. The man that rejecteth the proper knowledge of the person of the Lord Jesus, and the causes of his doing and suffering in the world, take the following way to be guilty of that transgression that is not to be purged with sacrifice forever; that fearful transgression for which is left no offer at all, nor anything to be expected by the person transgressing but fearful judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversary.

Now, for their sakes that have not sinned this sin, for their sakes that are in danger thereof, but yet not overcome, for their sakes have I written this little book, wherein is essentially, and yet with few words, discovered the doctrine of the person, and doings, and sufferings of Christ, with the actual cause thereof, also removal of those objections that the crafty children of darkness have framed against the same.

And I have been the more plain and simple in my writing because the sin against the Holy Ghost is these days more common than formerly, and the way unto it more beautified with color and pretense of truth. I may say that the way to this sin is, as was once the way to Jerusalem, strewed with boughs and branches, and by some, there is a kind of hosanna to them that are treading these steps to hell. O the plausible pretenses, the golden names, the feigned holiness, the demure behaviors, mixed with damnable hypocrisy, that attend the persons that have forsaken the Lord Jesus, that have despised his person, trampled upon him, and counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing! They have crucified him to themselves and think that they can go to heaven without him; yea, pretend they love him when they hate him; pretend they have him when they have cast him off; pretend they trust in him when they bid defiance to his undertakings for the world.

Let me beseech thee to hear me patiently; read, consider, and judge. I have presented thee with what I have received from God, and the holy men of God, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, bear me witness. Thou wilt say, All pretend to this. Well, give me the hearing, take me to the Bible, and let me find in thy heart no favor if thou find me to swerve from the standard.

I say again, receive my doctrine; I beseech thee, in Christ’s stead, accept it; I know it to be the way of salvation. I have ventured my soul thereon with gladness, and if all the souls in the world were mine, as my own soul is, I would, through God’s grace, venture everyone there. I have not written at a venture nor borrowed my doctrine from libraries. I depend upon the sayings of no man. I found it in the Scriptures of truth, among the true sayings of God.

I have done when I have exhorted thee to pray and heed God’s words as revealed in the Holy Writ. The Lord Jesus Christ provides thee with light and life by faith in him; to whom, with the Father and the good Spirit of grace, be glory and dominion, now and forever. Amen.

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 388

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

Dear Reader,

This solemn and searching treatise was first published in 1674, a copy of which is in the Editor's possession. The author's object is to correct some fatal errors that peculiarly abounded and to recommend the gospel in its purity to the acceptance of his fellow sinners. Possessing that inward peace, serenity, happiness, and safety, arising from a scriptural knowledge of Christ and him crucified, he proclaims, 'I have ventured my own soul thereon with gladness,' and 'if all the souls in the world were mine, I would venture them all.' His prayer is that others may receive the same light and life by faith.

Every age has had peculiar delusions for the trial of the spirit—mysticism in Bunyan's time, Puseyism in our days. Before the Reformation, the clergy called the church, claimed implicit obedience from the laity as essential to salvation, and taught that inquiry was the high road to eternal ruin. After the Bible had been extensively circulated, many regarded it as the letter that killed—that it was of no importance compared with the light within, which alone was essential. These were not the notions of any one or two sects but had spread their influence to a considerable extent over the Christian church. To check the growth of these errors and to recover those who had been misled by them, Bunyan published this 'Light for them that sit in darkness.' His object is to prove that all our knowledge of the Saviour must be received directly from the written Word—that to understand these holy oracles, we must seek and obtain Divine light. By this light, we shall find that Christ took upon himself our nature, and, by his holy and perfect obedience to the law and sacrifice of himself as a sin-atoning offering, he redeemed all his saints, paid the FULL price of their redemption, and will present them unblameable, unreprovable, and acceptable to him that is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Their robes are washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; they are perfect as Christ is perfect; there is no condemnation to them; their salvation is sure. The arguments on the following pages are most consoling to those whose spirits are dismayed under a fear that they have sinned the unpardonable sin. Those under that awful curse are sunk in a deathly state of insensibility while they sit in the scorner's seat. To be alarmed with the fear of having so offended the Saviour is the best evidence that no such sin can have been committed. The closing chapter is full of striking solemnity. May its beneficial effects be felt, to the glory of God and the reader's solid peace.

GEO. OFFOR,

THE AUTHOR TO THE READER.

Works of John Bunyan: REASONS WHY FEW ARE SAVED. 387

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

[USE AND APPLICATION OF THE WHOLE.]

[USE FOURTH.]—If so, what a strange disappointment many professors will meet with on the day of judgment! I speak not now to the open profane; everybody, as I have said, that had but the common understanding between good and evil, knows that they are in a broad way to hell and damnation, and they must need come thither; nothing can hinder it but repentance unto salvation, except God should prove a liar to save them, and it is hard venturing of that.

Neither is it amiss if we take notice of the examples that are briefly mentioned in the Scriptures concerning professors who have miscarried. 1. Judas perished from among the apostles. (Acts 1) 2. Demas, I think, perished from among the evangelists. (2 Tim 4:10) 3. Diotrephes are from among the ministers or in office in the church. (3 John 9) 4. As for Christian professors, they have fallen by heaps and almost by whole churches. (2 Tim 1:15, Rev 3:4,15-17) 5. Let us add to these that the things mentioned in the Scriptures about these matters are but brief hints and items of what is afterward to happen; as the apostle said, “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” (1 Tim 5:24)

So that, fellow professors, let us fear, lest a promise be left to us of entering into this rest, any of us should seem short of it. O! to come short! Nothing kills like it, and nothing will burn like it. I intend not discouragements but awakenings; the churches need awakening, and so have all professors. Do not despise me, therefore, but hear me over again. What a strange disappointment many professors will meet on God Almighty’s day! It is a disappointment, I say, as to several things.

(1.) They will look to escape hell and fall just into the mouth of hell: what a disappointment will be here! (2.) They will look for heaven, but the gate of heaven will be shut against them: what a disappointment is here! (3.) They will expect that Christ should have compassion for them but will find that he hath shut up all bowels of compassion from them: what a disappointment is here! Again,

[USE FIFTH.]—As this disappointment will be fearful, it will undoubtedly be full of amazement.

1. Will being unexpectedly excluded from life and salvation not amaze them? 2. Will it not be amazing to see their own madness and folly while they consider how they have dallied with their own souls and took lightly for granted that they had that grace that would save them but hath left them in a damnable state?

3. Will they not also be amazed one at another while they remember how, in their lifetime, they counted themselves fellow heirs of life? To allude to that of the prophet, “They shall be amazed one at another, their faces shall be as flames.” (Isa 13:8) 4. Will it not be unique to some of the damned themselves to see some come to hell that then they shall see come thither? To see preachers of the Word, professors of the Word, practices in the Word, to go thither. What wondering was there among them at the fall of the king of Babylon since he was thought to have swallowed up all because he was run down by the Medes and Persians! “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations!” If such a thing as this will with amazement surprise the damned, what amazement will it be to them to see such a one as he whose head reached to the clouds, to see him come down to the pit and perish forever like his own dung? “Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; it stirred up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth.” (Isa 14) They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee, saying, Is this the man? Is this he that professed, disputed, and forsook us, but now he is coming to us again? Is this he that separated from us but has now fallen with us into the same eternal damnation?

[USE SIXTH.]—Again, one word more, if I may awaken professors. Consider, though the poor carnal world shall undoubtedly perish, yet they will want these things to aggravate their sorrow, which thou wilt meet with in every thought that thou wilt have of the condition thou was in when thou was in the world.

1. They will not have a profession to bite them when they come. 2. They will not have a taste of a lost heaven to bite them when they come thither. 3. They will not have the thoughts of, “I was almost at heaven,” to bite them when they come thither. 4. They will not think about how they cheated saints, ministers, and churches to bite them when they come thither. 5. They will not have the dying thoughts of false faith, false hope, false repentance, and false holiness to bite them when they come thither. I was at the gates of heaven. I looked into heaven, and I thought I should have entered it. How would these things sting? They will, if I may call them so, be the sting of the sting of death in hell-fire.

[USE SEVENTH.]—Give me leave now in a word to give you a little advice.

1. Dost thou love thine own soul? Then pray to Jesus Christ for an awakened heart, for a heart so awakened with all the things of another world, that thou mayest be allured to Jesus Christ. 2. When thou comes there, beg again for more awakenings about sin, hell, grace, and the righteousness of Christ. 3. Cry also for a discerning spirit, that thou mayest know that which is saving grace indeed. 4. Above all studies, apply yourself to the study of those things that show thee the evil of sin, the shortness of man’s life, and which is the way to be saved. 5. Keep company with the most godly among professors. 6. When you hear the nature of actual grace, do not ask thine own heart if this grace is there. And here take heed— (1.) That the preacher himself be sound and of good life. (2.) That thou take not seeming graces for real ones, nor seeming fruits for natural fruits. (3.) Take heed that sin in thy life goes not unrepented of; for that will make a flaw in thine evidence, a wound in thy conscience, and a breach in thy peace; and a hundred to one, if at last it doth not drive all the grace in thee into so dark a corner of thy heart, that thou shalt not be able, for a time, by all the torches that are burning in the gospel, to find it out to thine own comfort and consolation.

Works of John Bunyan: REASONS WHY FEW ARE SAVED. 386

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas,

[USE AND APPLICATION OF THE WHOLE.]

[USE THIRD]—My third word is to professors. Sirs, leave me to set my trumpet to your ears again. When every man hath put in all the claim they can for heaven, but few will have it for their inheritance; I mean but few professors, for so the text intended, and so I have also proved. “For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” Therefore, let me expostulate the matter with you, O ye thousands of professors!

1. I begin with you whose religion lieth only in your tongues; I mean you who are petite, or nothing is known from the rest of the world; only you can talk better than they. Hear me a word or two. If “I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity,” that is, love to God, Christ, saints, and holiness, “I am nothing”; no child of God, and so have nothing to do with heaven. (1 Cor 13:1,2) A prating tongue will not unlock the gates of heaven nor blind the eyes of the Judge. Look at it. “The wise in heart will receive commandments, but a prating fool shall fall.” (Prov 10:8)

2. Covetous professor, thou that make a gain of religion, that uses thy profession to bring grist to thy mill, look to it also. Gain is not godliness. Judas’ religion lay much in the bag, but his soul is now burning in hell. All covetousness is idolatry, but what is that, or what will you call it, when men are religious for filthy lucre’s sake? (Eze 33:31)

3. Wanton professors, I have a word for you; I mean you who can tell how to misplead Scripture, to maintain your pride, your banqueting, and abominable idolatry. Read what Peter says. You are the snare and damnation of others. You “allure through the lust of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.” (2 Peter 2:18) Besides, the Holy Ghost hath a great deal against you, for your feastings, and eating without fear, not for health, but gluttony. (Jude 12) Further, Peter says that you that count it pleasure to riot in the day-time are spots and blemishes, sporting yourselves with your own deceiving. (2 Peter 2:13) And let me ask, Did God give his Word to justify your wickedness? Or doth grace teach you to plead for the flesh or make provision for the lusts thereof? Of these also are they that feed their bodies to strengthen their lusts, under the pretense of strengthening frail nature. But pray, remember the text, “Many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

4. I come next to the opinionist; I mean, to him whose religion lieth in some circumstantial of religion. With this sort of kingdom, it swarms to this day. These think all out of the way, which is not their mode, when they may be out of the way amid their zeal for their opinions. Pray, do you also observe the text; “Many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

5. Neither is the formalist exempted from this number. He is a man that hath lost all but the shell of religion. He is indeed hot for his form and no marvel; that is his all to contend for. But his form being without the power and spirit of godliness, it will leave him in his sins; nay, he stands now in them in the sight of God and is one of the many that “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” (2 Tim 3:5)

6. The legalist comes next, even him that hath no life but what he makes out of his duties. This man hath chosen to stand or fall by Moses, who is the condemner of the world. “There is one that accused you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.” (John 5:45)

7. There is, in the next place, the libertine—he that pretended to be against forms and duties, as things that gender to bondage, neglecting the order of God. This man pretends to pray always but, under that pretense, prays not at all; he pretends to keep every day a Sabbath, but this pretense serves him only to cast off all set times for the worship of God. This is also one of the many that “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” (Titus 1:16)

8. There is the temporizing latitudinarian. He is a man that hath no God but his belly, nor any religion but that by which his belly is worshipped. His religion is always, like the times, turning this way and that way, like the cock on the steeple; neither hath he any conscience but a benumbed and seared one, and is next door to a downright atheist; and also is one of the many that “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

9. There is also the willfully ignorant professor, or him, who is afraid to know more for fear of the cross. He is for picking and choosing of truth and loveth, not to hazard his all for that worthy name by which he would be called. When he is at any time overset by arguments or awakenings of conscience, he uses to heal all by—I was not brought up in this faith; as if it were unlawful for Christians to know more than hath been taught them at first conversion. Many Scriptures lie against his man, as the mouths of great guns, and he is one of the many that “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

10. We will add to all these the professor who would prove himself a Christian by comparing himself with others instead of comparing himself with the Word of God. This man comforts himself because he is as holy as such and such; he also knows as such as that old professor and then concludes he shall go to heaven: as if he certainly knew that those with whom he compares himself would be undoubtedly saved but how if he should be mistaken? Nay, may they not both fall short? But to be sure, he is wrong because he made the comparison, and a bad foundation will not stand on the day of judgment. (2 Cor 10:12) This man, therefore, is one of the many who “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

11. There is yet another professor, and he is for God and for Baal too; he can be anything for any company; he can throw stones with both hands; his religion alters as fast as his company; he is a frog of Egypt, and can live in the water and out of the water; he can live in religious company, and again as well out. Nothing disorderly comes amiss to him; he will hold with the hare and run with the hound; he carries fire in one hand and water in the other; he is very anything but what he should be. This is among the many who “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

12. There is also that free-willer, who denies to the Holy Ghost the sole work in conversion; and that Socinian, who denies to Christ that he hath made to God satisfaction for sin; and that Quaker, who takes from Christ the two natures in his person: and I might add as many more, touching whose damnation, they dying as they are, the Scripture is plain: these “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” But,

Works of John Bunyan: REASONS WHY FEW ARE SAVED. 385

 

[USE AND APPLICATION OF THE WHOLE.]

[USE SECOND.]—My second word is to those upon the potter’s wheel, concerning whom we know not yet whether their convictions and awakenings will end in conversion. I shall say several things to you to further your convictions and to caution you from staying anywhere below or short of saving grace.

1. Remember that but few shall be saved, and if God should count thee worthy to be one of that few, what mercy would that be!

2. Be thankful for convictions; conversion begins at conviction, though all convictions do not end in conversion. It is a great mercy to be convinced that we are sinners and need a Saviour; count it, therefore, mercy, and that thy convictions may end in conversion, do thou take heed of stifling of them. It is the way of poor sinners to look upon convictions as things that are hurtful; and therefore they use to shun the awakening ministry, and to check a convincing conscience. Such poor sinners are much like the wanton boy who stands at the maid’s elbow to blow out her candle as fast as she lights it at the fire. Convinced sinner, God lighted thy candle, and thou put it out; God lights it again, and thou put it out. Yea, “how oft is the candle of the wicked put out?” (Job 21:17) At last, God resolved he will light thy candle no more; and then, like the Egyptians, you dwell all your days in darkness, and never see the light more, but by the light of hell-fire; wherefore give glory to God, and if he awakens thy conscience, quench not thy convictions. Do it, saith the prophet, “before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and he turns” your convictions “into the shadow of death, and make them gross darkness.” (Jer 13:16)

(1.) Be willing to see the worst of thy condition. It is better to see it here than in hell, for thou must see thy misery here or there. (2.) Beware of little sins; they will make way for great ones, and they again will make way for bigger, upon which God’s wrath will follow; and then may thy latter end be worse than thy beginning. (2 Peter 2:20) (3.) Take heed of bad company and evil communication, corrupting good manners. God saith, evil company will turn thee away from following him and will tempt thee to serve other gods, devils. “So the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” (Deu 7:4) (4.) Beware of such a thought as bids thee delay repentance, for that is damnable. (Prov 1:24, Zech 7:12,13) (5.) Beware of taking example by some poor, carnal professor whose religion lies at the tip of his tongue. Beware, I say, of the man whose head swims with notions, but “his life is among the unclean.” (Job 36:14). “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” (Prov 13:20) (6.) Give thyself much to the Word, and prayer, and good conference. (7.) Labour to see the sin that cleaved to the best of thy performances and know that all is nothing if thou be not found in Jesus Christ. (8.) Remember that God’s eye is upon thy heart and all thy ways. “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” (Jer 23:24) (9.) Be often meditating upon death and judgment. (Eccl 11:9, 12:14) (10.) We often think about what a dreadful end sinners who have neglected Christ will make on that day of death and judgment. (Heb 10:31) (11.) Put thyself often, in thy thoughts, before Christ’s judgment-seat, in thy sins, and consider with thyself, Were I now before my Judge, how should I look, how should I shake and tremble? (12.) Be often thinking of them that are now in hell, past all mercy; I say, be often thinking of them, thus: They were once in the world, as I now am; they once took delight in sin, as I have done; they once neglected repentance, as Satan would have me do. But now they are gone; they are in hell, and the pit hath shut her mouth upon them!

Thou may also doubt thy thoughts of the damned thus: If these poor creatures were in the world again, would they sin as they did before? Would they neglect salvation as they did before? If they had sermons, as I have; if they had the Bible, as I have; if they had good company, as I have; if they had a day of grace, as I have, would they neglect it as they did before?

Sinner, coldest thou soberly think of these things; they might help God, bless them, awaken thee, and keep thee awake to repentance, to the repentance that is to salvation, never to be repented of.

Object. But you have said few shall be saved, and some that go a significant way, yet are not saved. Therefore, I am discouraged and weakened; I think I had a good go no further. I am, indeed, under conviction, but I may perish; and if I go on in my sins, I can but perish; and it is ten, twenty, and a hundred to one if I am saved, should I be ever so earnest for heaven.

Answ. That few will be saved must be a truth, for Christ hath said it; that many go far and come short of heaven, is as true, being testified by the same hand. But what then? “Why, then, had I as good never seek.” Who told thee so? Must nobody seek because few are saved? This contradicts the text that bids us to strive; strive to enter in because the gate is straight, and many will seek to join in and shall not be able to. But why return, seeing that is the following way to hell? Never go over the hedge and ditch to hell. If I must go thither, I will go the furthest way. But who can tell, though there should not be saved so many as there shall, but thou mayest be one of that few? They who miss life perish because they will not let go of their sins or because they take up a profession short of the saving faith of the gospel. I say they perish because they are content with things that will not prove graces of a saving nature when they come to be tried in the fire. Otherwise, the promise is free, complete, and everlasting—” Him that cometh to me,” saith Christ, “I will in no wise cast out”; “for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 6:37, 3:16) Wherefore let not this thought, Few shall be saved, weaken thy heart; but let it cause thee to mend thy pace, to mend thy cries, to look well to thy grounds for heaven; let it make thee fly faster from sin to Christ; let it keep thee awake, and out of carnal security, and thou mayest be saved.

Works of John Bunyan: REASONS WHY FEW ARE SAVED. 384

 

[USE AND APPLICATION OF THE WHOLE.]

I come now to make some brief use and application of the whole and

[USE FIRST.]—My first word shall be to the open profane. Poor sinner, thou read that, but a few will be saved; many who expect heaven will go without heaven. What sayest thou to this, poor sinner? Let me say it over again. There are but few to be saved, but very few. Let me add, but few professors—but few eminent professors. What sayest thou now, sinner? If judgment begins at the house of God, what will the end of them be if they do not obey the gospel of God? This is Peter's question. Canst thou answer it, sinner? Yea, I say again, if judgment must begin at them, will it not make thee think, What shall become of me? And I add, when thou shalt see the stars of heaven to tumble down to hell, canst thou think that such a muck-heap of sin as thou art shall be lifted up to heaven? To wit, Peter asks thee another question: "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:18) Canst thou answer this question, sinner?

Stand among the righteous thou mayest not: "The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." (Psa 1:5). Stand among the wicked thou then wilt not dare to do. Where wilt thou appear, sinner? To stand among the hypocrites will avail thee nothing. The hypocrite "shall not come before him," that is, with acceptance, but shall perish. (Job 13:16) Because it concerns you much, let me repeat it! When thou shalt see fewer sinners than thou art, bound up by angels in bundles, to burn them, where wilt thou appear, sinner? Thou mayest wish thyself another man, but that will not help thee, sinner. Thou mayest wish I had been converted in time, but that will not help thee either. And if, like the wife of Jeroboam, thou shouldst feign thyself to be another woman, the Prophet, the Lord Jesus, would soon find thee out! What wilt thou do, poor sinner? Heavy tidings, heavy tidings, will attend thee, except thou repent, poor sinner! (1 Kings 14:2,5,6, Luke 13:3,5) O, the dreadful state of a poor sinner, an open, profane sinner! Everybody that hath but common sense knows that this man is in the broad way to death, yet he laughs at his own damnation.

Shall I come to particulars with thee?

1. Poor unclean sinner, the "harlot's house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." (Prov 2:18, 5:5, 7:27)

2. Poor swearing and thievish sinner, God hath prepared the curse, that "everyone that stealth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and everyone that swears shall be cut off as on that side, according to it." (Zech 5:3)

3. Poor drunken sinner, what shall I say to thee? "Woe to the drunkards of Ephraim," "woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of—strong drink; they shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven." (Isa 28:1, 5:22, 1 Cor 6:9,10)

4. Poor covetous worldly man, God's Word says, that "the covetous the Lord abhorred"; that the "covetous man is an idolater"; and that the covetous "shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Psa 10:3, Eph 5:5, John 2:15, 1 Cor 6:9,10)

5. And thou liar, what wilt thou do? "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burn with fire and brimstone." (Rev 21:8,27)

I shall not enlarge, poor sinner, let no man deceive thee; "for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." (Eph 5:6) I will give thee a short call, and so leave thee.

Sinner, awake: yea, I say unto thee, awake! Sin lieth at thy door, God's axe at thy root, and hell-fire is proper underneath thee. (Gen 4:7) I say again, Awake! "Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." (Matt 3:10)

Poor sinner, awake; eternity is coming, and HIS SON, they are both coming to judge the world; awake, art yet asleep, poor sinner? Let me set the trumpet to the ear once again! The heavens will be shortly on a burning flame; the earth, and the works thereof, shall be burned up, and then wicked men shall go into perdition; dost thou hear this, sinner? (2 Peter 3) Hark again, the sweet morsels of sin will then be fled and gone, and their bitter, burning fruits only left. What sayest thou now, sinner? Canst thou drink hellfire? Will the wrath of God be a pleasant dish to thy taste? This must be thine every day's meat and drink in hell, sinner!

I will propound to you God's ponderous question, and then for this time leave thee: "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee?" saith the Lord. (Eze 22:14) What sayest thou? Will you answer this question now, or will you take time? Or wilt thou be desperate and venture all? And let me put this text in thine ear to keep it open; and so the Lord have mercy upon thee: "Upon the wicked shall the Lord rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup." (Psa 11:6) Repent, sinners!

Works of John Bunyan: REASONS WHY FEW ARE SAVED. 383

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

Fourth. Do God’s people keep holy fasts? They who are not his people may also keep fasts often, even twice a week. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice weekly; I give tithes of all I possess.” (Luke 18:11,12) I might enlarge upon things, but I intend but a little book. I do not question, but many Balaamites will appear before the judgment seat to condemnation; men that have had visions of God, and that knew the knowledge of the Most High; men that have had the Spirit of God come upon them, and that have by that been made other men; yet these shall go to the generations of their fathers, they shall never see light. (Num 24:2,4,16, 1 Sam 10:6,10, Psa 49:19) I read of some men whose excellency in religion mounts up to the heavens, and their heads reach unto the clouds, who yet shall perish forever like their own dung; and he that in this world hath seen them, shall say at the judgment, Where are they? (Job 20:5-7) There will be many who were gallant professors in this world, wanting among the saved on the day of Christ’s coming; yea, many whose damnation was never dreamed of. Which of the twelve ever thought that Judas would have proved a devil? Nay, when Christ suggested that one among them was naught, they were more afraid of themselves than of him. (Matt 26:21-23) Who questioned the salvation of the foolish virgins?

The wise ones did not; they gave them the privilege of communion with themselves. (Matt 25) The discerning of the heart and the infallible proof of the truth of saving grace is reserved for the judgment of Jesus Christ at his coming. The church and best of saints sometimes hit and sometimes miss in their decisions about this matter, and the cause of our missing in our judgment is 1. Partly because we cannot always distinguish grace that saves from that which doth but appear to do so. 2. Partly also because some men have the art to correctly name wrong things. 3. And partly because we, being commanded to receive him that is weak, are afraid to exclude the most minor Christian. By a hidden means, hypocrites creep into the churches. But what saith the Scripture? “I, the Lord, search the heart; I try the reins.” And again, “All the churches shall know that I am he which searched the reins and hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” (Jer 11:20, 17:10, Rev 2:23) To this Searcher of hearts is the time of infallible discerning reserved, and then you shall see how far grace that is not saving hath gone; and also how few will be saved indeed. The Lord awaken poor sinners by my little book.

Works of John Bunyan: REASONS WHY FEW ARE SAVED. 382

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

Second. Have they that shall be saved, faith? Why, they that shall not be saved may also have faith; faith in many things, like the faith that saves, can hardly be distinguished, though they differ in root and branch. To come to particulars.

1. Saving faith had Christ for its object, and so may the faith have that is not saving. Those very Jews of whom it is said they believed in Christ, Christ tells them, and that after their believing, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” (John 8:30-44) 2. Saving faith is wrought by the Word of God, so may the faith be that is not saving. (Luke 8:13) 3. Saving faith looks for justification without works, and so may a faith that is not saving. (James 2:18) 4. Saving faith will sanctify and purify the heart; the faith not saving may work a man off from the world’s pollutions, as it did Judas, Demas, and others. (2 Peter 2) 5. Saving faith will give a man taste of the world to come and joy from those tastes, and so will the faith that is not saving. (Heb 6:4,5, Luke 8:13) 6. Saving faith will help a man, if called to it, to give his body to be burned for his religion, and so will the faith that is not saving. (1 Cor 13:1-5) 7. Saving faith will help a man look for an inheritance in the world to come, and that may be the faith that does not save.

All those virgins “took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.” (Matt 25:1) 8. Saving faith will not only make a man look for but prepare to meet the bridegroom, and so may the faith do that is not saving. “Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.” (Matt 25:7) 9. Saving faith will make a man look for an interest in the kingdom of heaven with confidence, and faith that is not saving will even demand the entrance of the Lord. “Lord, Lord, open to us.” (Matt 25:11) 10. Saving faith will have good works follow it into heaven, and the faith that is not saving may have great works follow it as far as heaven’s gates. “Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matt 7:22)

Now, then, if the faith that is not saving may have Christ for its object, be wrought by the Word, look for justification without works, workmen off from the pollutions of the world, and give men tastes of, and joy in the things of another world—I say again if it helps a man to burn for his judgment, and to look for an inheritance in another world; yea, if it will help a man to prepare for it, claim an interest in it; and if it can carry great works, many great and glorious works, as far as heaven gates, then no marvel if abundance of people take this faith for the saving faith, and so fall short of heaven thereby. Alas, friends! Few can produce such [works] for repentance, and such faith, as yet you see I have proved even reprobates have had in several ages of the church. But,

Third. They that go to heaven are praying, but a man may pray that they shall not be saved. Pray! He may pray, pray daily; yea, he may ask of God the ordinances of justice, and may take delight in approaching God; nay, such souls may, as it were, cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and crying out. (Isa 28:2, Mal 2:13)

Fourth. Do God’s people keep holy fasts? They who are not his people may also keep fasts often, even twice a week. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice weekly; I give tithes of all I possess.” (Luke 18:11,12) I might enlarge upon things, but I intend but a little book. I do not question, but many Balaamites will appear before the judgment seat to condemnation; men that have had visions of God, and that knew the knowledge of the Most High; men that have had the Spirit of God come upon them, and that have by that been made other men; yet these shall go to the generations of their fathers, they shall never see light. (Num 24:2,4,16, 1 Sam 10:6,10, Psa 49:19) I read of some men whose excellency in religion mounts up to the heavens, and their heads reach unto the clouds, who yet shall perish forever like their own dung; and he that in this world hath seen them, shall say at the judgment, Where are they? (Job 20:5-7)

There will be many who were gallant professors in this world, wanting among the saved on the day of Christ’s coming; yea, many whose damnation was never dreamed of. Which of the twelve ever thought that Judas would have proved a devil? Nay, when Christ suggested that one among them was naught, they were more afraid of themselves than of him. (Matt 26:21-23) Who questioned the salvation of the foolish virgins? The wise ones did not; they gave them the privilege of communion with themselves. (Matt 25) The discerning of the heart and the infallible proof of the truth of saving grace is reserved for the judgment of Jesus Christ at his coming.

The church and best of saints sometimes hit and sometimes miss in their decisions about this matter, and the cause of our missing in our judgment is 1. Partly because we cannot always distinguish grace that saves from that which doth but appear to do so. 2. Partly also because some men have the art to correctly name wrong things. 3. And partly because we are commanded to receive him that is weak, we are afraid to exclude the most diminutive Christian. By a hidden means, hypocrites creep into the churches. But what saith the Scripture? “I, the Lord, search the heart; I try the reins.” And again, “All the churches shall know that I am he which searched the reins and hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” (Jer 11:20, 17:10, Rev 2:23) To this Searcher of hearts is the time of infallible discerning reserved, and then you shall see how far grace that is not saving hath gone; and also how few will be saved indeed. The Lord awaken poor sinners by my little book.

Works of John Bunyan: REASONS WHY FEW ARE SAVED. 381

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

 I will give you some reasons besides the five I have shown you. First, I will show you why the poor, carnal, ignorant world misses heaven, and second, why the knowing professors also miss it.

[First, Why the poor, carnal, ignorant world miss heaven.]

1. The poor, carnal, ignorant world misses heaven even because they love their sins and cannot part with them. “Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19). The poor ignorant world miss of heaven because they are enemies in their minds to God, his Word, and holiness; they must be all damned who take pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess 2:10-12) The poor ignorant world misses heaven because they stop their ears against convictions and refuse to come when God calls. “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—as desolation, and your destruction—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 1:24-29)

2. The poor ignorant world misses heaven because the god of this world hath blinded their eyes, that they can neither see the evil and damnable state they are in at present nor the way to get out of it; neither do they know the beauty of Jesus Christ, nor how willing he is to save poor sinners. (2 Cor 4:2,3)

3. The poor ignorant world misses heaven because they put off and defer coming to Christ until the time of God’s patience and grace is over. Some, indeed, are resolved never to come; but some, again, say, We will come hereafter; and so it comes to pass, that because God called, and they did not hear; so they shall cry, and I will not hear, said the Lord. (Zech 7:11-13)

4. The poor, ignorant world misses heaven because they have false apprehensions about God’s mercy. They say in their hearts, We shall have peace, though we walk in the imagination of our heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. But what saith the Word? “The Lord will not spare him; but then the anger of the Lord, and his jealousy, shall smoke against that man, and all the curses written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.” (Deu 29:19-21)

5. The poor, ignorant world misses heaven because they make light of the gospel that offers mercy to them freely and because they lean upon their own good meanings, thinking, and doings. (Matt 22:1-5, Rom 9:30,31)

6. The poor carnal world misses heaven because, by unbelief, which reigns in them, they are kept forever from being clothed with Christ’s righteousness and from washing in his blood, without which there is neither remission of sin nor justification. But to pass these till anon.

[Second.] In the next place, I will show you why the professor falls short of heaven.

First, in general, they rest in things below special grace, as in awakenings that are not special, in faith16 that is not special, &c.; and, a little to run a parallel betwixt the one and the other, that, if God will, you may see and escape.

1. Have they that shall be saved, awakenings about their state by nature? So have they, that shall be damned. They who never go to heaven may see much of sin and God’s wrath due to that. This had Cain and Judas, yet they came short of the kingdom. (Gen 4, Matt 27:4) The saved have convictions to have eternal life, but the others’ convictions are not. The convictions of the one doth drive them sincerely to Christ; the convictions of the other doth drive them to the law, and the law to desperation at last.

2. There is a repentance that will not save, a repentance to be repented of, and a repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. (2 Cor 7:10) Yet, there is so great a similitude and likeness between the one and the other that the wrong is often taken for the right, and through this mistake, professors perish. As, (1.) In saving repentance, there will be an acknowledgment of sin, and one that hath the other repentance may acknowledge his sins also. (Matt 27:4) (2.) There is a crying out under sin in saving repentance, but one that hath the other repentance may also cry out under sin. (Gen 4:13) (3.) In saving repentance, there will be a humiliation for sin, and one that hath the other repentance may humble himself also. (1 Kings 21:29) (4.) Saving repentance is attended with self-loathing, but he that hath the other repentance may have a loathing of sin too; a loathing of sin, because it is a sin, that he cannot have; but a loathing of sin, because it is offensive to him, that he may have.

The dog doth not loath that which troubles his stomach because it is there, but because it troubles him; when it has troubled him, he can turn to it again and lick it up as before it troubled him. (2 Peter 2:22) (5.) Saving repentance is attended with prayers and tears, but he that hath none, but the other repentance may have prayers and tears also. (Gen 27:34,35, Heb 12:16,17) (6.) In saving repentance, there is fear and reverence of the Word and ministers that bring it, but this may also be where there is none, but the repentance that is not saving, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy, and observed him; when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. (Mark 6:20) (7.) Saving repentance makes a man’s heart very tender of doing anything against the Word of God. But Balaam could say, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord.” (Num 24:13)

Behold how far a man may go in repentance and yet be short of what is called “Repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of.” (a.) He may be awakened; (b.) He may acknowledge his sin; (c.) He may cry out under the burden of sin; (d.) He may have humility for it; (e.) He may loath it; (f.) May have prayers and tears against it; (g.) may delight to do many things of God; (h.) May be afraid of sinning against him—and, after all this, may perish, for want of saving repentance.