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QUEST. SECOND. What it was for Jesus to come into the world.

Answ. Not his coming in, or by his Spirit in his people; for so he was never out of the world. Neither is it his appearance in his ordinances. Nor that coming of his by which he destroyed Antichrist. Nor his appearing in his dreadful providences or judgments. But by the coming of Jesus, according to the text, we are to understand that, or such a coming, whereby he was manifest to be God-man in one person; God in our flesh without us, or distinct in his own person by himself; such a coming by which he was manifested to be in all points like as men are, sin only excepted; such a coming wherein, or by which, the Son of God became also the Son of man.

[First.] To clarify this further, you find it expressly said he was 'born into the world'; Mary, 'of whom was born Jesus.' When Jesus was born, it is said, 'Where is he that is born King of the Jews?' Herod 'demanded of them where Christ should be born' (Matt 1:16, 2:1, 2,4; Luke 1:35, 2:11).

Now that this was fulfilled according to the very word of the text, without any juggle, evasion, or cunningly devised fable, consider—

1. He is called the firstborn of this woman, the male child who opened her womb (Luke 2:7, 23).

2. He was not born till nourished in her womb the whole time, according to the time of life: 'And so it was, that while they were there [at Bethlehem], the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. She brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger (Luke 2:6,7).

3. She also continued in her separation at the birth of Jesus, as other women at the birth of their children, until 'the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished' (Luke 2:22).

4. Like other Hebrew children, he was brought to Jerusalem to present himself to the Lord—' As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opened the womb shall be called holy to the Lord' (Luke 2:23, 24).

5. Thus, Jesus also, like other Hebrew children, was circumcised when the set day came—' And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb' (Luke 2:21).

6. After this, he is often called the young child, the child Jesus; further, it is said that he grew and increased in wisdom and stature (Matt 2:20, 21; Luke 2:40, 52).

Behold with what diligence, even to a circumstance, the Holy Ghost sets forth the birth of the Lord Jesus and all to convince the incredulous world of the proper manner of the coming of the Saviour into the world.

Second. The reality of this Lord Jesus's manhood is yet further manifest, and that, 1. by those natural infirmities that attend human flesh; 2. by the names the prophets gave him in the days of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

1. By those natural infirmities that attend human flesh. As, at his birth, he could not go but was carried by his parents. He was sensible of hunger (Luke 4:2). He was sensible of thirst (John 19:28). He was sensible of weariness (John 4:6). He was nourished by sleep (Mark 4:38). He was subject to grief (Mark 3:5). He was subject to anger (Mark 3:5). He was subject to weep (John 11:35; Luke 19:41). He had joy as a man, and rejoiced (Matt 11:25; Luke 10:21). These things, I say, Jesus was subject to as a man, as the son of the Virgin.

2. The reality of his manhood is yet made manifest by the names the prophets gave him, both in the Old Testament and in the New. As,

(1.) He is called the 'seed'—the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David—which means he was to come from their children (Gen 3:15, 12, 22; Gal 3:16,17; Rom 1:3).

(2.) Therefore, it is added (where mention is made of the fathers), 'of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came.' He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and hence again he called himself the offspring of David; therefore, I say, he is said to be of their flesh, their loins, and is called their Son (Rom 1:3, 4:5; Acts 2:30; Rev 22:16).

(3.) He, therefore, is frequently called 'a man, and the Son of man'—' Then shall you see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven.' 'When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him.' 'This man, because he continued ever, had an unchangeable priesthood.' 'Wherefore, it is necessary that this man have somewhat also to offer' (Matt 25:31, 26:64; Heb 7:24, 8:3, 10:12).

(4.) What shall I say? He gave an undeniable demonstration of all this when he said he 'was dead'; when he called to Thomas to put his finger to, and behold his hands, to reach to him his hand and thrust it into his side, and bid him he should not be faithless, but believing. At another time, when he stood in the midst of the eleven, as they were troubled with the thoughts of unbelief, he said, 'Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I; handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have' (John 20:27; Luke 24:39).

Thus, I have shown you what it was for Jesus to come into the world—namely, to be born of a woman, to take flesh, and to become God-man in one person. I come now to the third question, but before I speak mainly to that, I will produce further testimony that we find upon record concerning the truth of all this.

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I now proceed to the second observation—THAT WHEN JESUS WAS COME.
INTO THE WORLD, THEN WAS GOD'S PROMISE FULFILLED—namely, THAT HE WOULD ONE DAY SEND US A SAVIOUR.

Take three texts to confirm this point: 1. 'This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world' (John 6:14). These words were spoken of them that were present at that miracle of Jesus when he fed five thousand with five barley loaves, which a lad had about him in the company; for these men when they had seen the marvel, being amazed at it, made confession of him to be the Saviour. 2. 'Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world' (John 11:27). 3. 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners' (1 Tim 1:15).

To explain this observation, I will briefly address three questions: How will this Jesus be distinguished from others of that name? Second, what was it for this Jesus to come into the world? Third, what was it for him to come to be a Saviour?

QUEST. FIRST. For the first, the Jesus in the text is distinguished from all others of that name.

First, by the manner of his birth, he was born of a virgin, a virgin espoused to a man named Joseph, but he 'knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name JESUS' (Matt 1:25).

Second. He is distinguished from others of that name by the place of his birth—to wit, Bethlehem, the city of David; there he must be born, where he was born (John 7:42; Matt 2:4-6).

Third. He is distinguished by his lineage—he came 'of the house and lineage of David' (Luke 2:4-6).

Fourth. He is distinguished by the time of his birth—to wit, the time of the prophets prefixed (Gal 4:4).

Fifth. But his common distinction is Jesus of Nazareth; by this name, he is distinguished one and twenty times in the New Testament—1. His enemies called him 'Jesus of Nazareth' (Matt 26:71; Mark 14:67; John 18:5). 2. His disciples called him 'Jesus of Nazareth' (Matt 21:11; Luke 24:19; John 1:45; Acts 2:22). 3. The angels called him 'Jesus of Nazareth' (Mark 16:6). 4. He called himself 'Jesus of Nazareth' (Acts 22:8). 5. Yeah, and he goes also by the name of 'Jesus of Nazareth' among the devils (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34).

He was called 'Jesus of Nazareth' because he dwelt there with his mother, Mary, and her husband. Nazareth was his city, where he had been brought up, whither for shelter Joseph carried him when he came out of Egypt with him; in Nazareth was his typical abode until the time that John was cast into prison; wherefore he might well say, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth' (Luke 4:16; Matt 2:23, 4:12,13). Yea, though he was now in heaven, for heaven shall not make us forget what countrymen we were when we lived in the world. Jesus, you see here, though glorified in heaven, yet forgets not what countryman he was when he dwelt in the world. 'I am Jesus of Nazareth,' saith he; I am the Jesus that thou persecutes; and that thou mayest know I am he, I tell thee I dwelt once in the city of Nazareth in Galilee; Joseph and my mother Mary brought me up there, and there I dwelt with them many years. 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest' (Acts 22:8).

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by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

1. He was typed forth sometimes by men. Adam was his type in many things, especially as he was the head and father of the first world. He was 'the figure of him that was to come' (Rom 5:14). Moses was his type as a Mediator and builder of the Tabernacle (Heb 3:2,3). Aaron was his type as a high priest, and Melchisedec before him (Heb 5:4,5, 7:1,21). Samson was his type in the effects of his death, for as Samson gave his life for the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines, Christ gave his life to deliver us from sin and devils. Joshua was his type in providing the land of Canaan to Israel, as Jesus will give the kingdom of heaven to the elect (Heb 4:8). David was his type in many things, especially in his subduing of Israel's enemies and feeding them [Israel]: hence he is sometimes called David their king, and David their shepherd (Eze 34:23,24). Solomon was his type in building the temple and his peaceable kingdom. Hence it is said, 'He shall build the temple of the Lord'; and again, 'Of his government and peace there shall be no end.'

2. Beasts were his type. For instance, some—

(1.) The paschal lamb was his type (Exo 12). In its spotlessness, Christ was 'a lamb without blemish and without spot' (1 Peter 1:18,19). In its being roasted, it was a figure of the cursed death of Christ; for to be roasted bespoke one accursed (Jer 29:22; Gal 3:13). In that it was to be eaten—'Whoso eat my flesh and drink my blood,' saith Christ, 'hath eternal life' (John 6:54). In that its blood was to be sprinkled upon the doors of their houses, for the destroying angel to look on; the blood of Christ is sprinkled upon the elect for the justice of God to look on (Heb 9; 1 Peter 1:2). By eating the paschal lamb, the people went out of Egypt; by feeding upon Christ by faith we come from under the Egyptian darkness, tyranny of Satan, &c.

(2.) The red cow was his type (Num 19:2, &c.).[2] In that, she was to be without blemish. In that she was to be slain without the camp—' Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate' (Heb 13:12). In that her flesh was to be burnt, a type of the grievous death of Christ. Her ashes were to be carried into a clean place without the camp, a kind of clean sepulcher where the body of Jesus was laid (John 19:38-41).

There were also divers other sacrifices, as bulls, goats, and birds, which were types of him, which I here omit.

3. Insensible creatures were his types. As,

(1.) The man in the wilderness (Exo 16). And that as it came down from heaven, for so did Christ—' I came down from heaven,' saith he; and again, 'I am the living bread which came down from heaven' (John 6:51). The manna was to be eaten; so is Christ by faith—' If any man eats of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world' (John 6:51). The manna was to be gathered daily; so is Christ to be daily eaten. The manna was all the bread that Israel had in the wilderness; Christ is all the bread that believers have in this life for their souls. The manna came not by Moses' law, neither comes Christ by our merits—' Moses gave you, not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven (John 6:32).

(2.) Again, the rock that gave them water for their thirst was a type of him (Num 20). They 'did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ' (1 Cor 10:4). This rock was his type in four things—

(a.) It gave drink to the people in the wilderness when they came out of Egypt; Christ gave drink to them to forsake the world for him. (b.) The rock yielded water by being smitten by Moses' rod; Christ giveth drink, even his blood, by being stricken by Moses' law (Num 20:11; Isa 53). (c.) The water out of this rock was given to the thirsty—' I will give unto him that is athirst,' saith Christ, 'of the fountain of the water of life freely' (Rev 21:6). (d.) The water of the rock in the wilderness ran after the people; they drank of that rock that followed them—' He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out, they ran in the dry places like a river' (Psa 110:41). Christ also is said by that type to follow us—' They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ' (1 Cor 10:4).

(3.) Again, the mount Moriah was his type. That mount stood in Jerusalem; Christ also stands in his church. Upon that rock was built the temple (2 Chron 3:1)—' And upon this rock,' said Christ, 'I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it' (Matt 16:18).

Other things might be urged, but these being virtually of the force of the promises, and also as a key to open them, therefore I thought good to place them here with the promises; because, as they are standing with them, so they are written to beget faith in the same Lord Jesus Christ.

THIRD. I come now to the third thing—to wit, That these promises were ground for a believing remembrance that a Saviour should one day come.

There is a remembering and a believing remembering, or such a remembering that begets and maintains faith in the heart. Jacob had a believing remembrance when he said, 'I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord' (Gen 49:18). And so had David when he cried, 'O that the salvation of Israel was come out of Zion' (Psa 53:6). These, with Simeon and Anna, had not a remembrance only, but a believing remembrance that God would send them a Saviour. They had the promise not in the book only but in their hearts; this gospel was mixed in them with faith; therefore, they, with their fellows, remembered and believed, or made the promise the ground of their belief that God would one day send them a Saviour.

Use of this Doctrine.

Here we may see how much the heart of God was set upon the salvation of sinners—he studied it, contrived it, put his heart on it, and promised, and promised, and promised to complete it, by sending one day his Son for a Saviour (2 Same 14:14; Eph 1:3; Titus 1:2). No marvel, therefore, if when he treated of the new covenant, in which the Lord Jesus is wrapped, and presented in a word of promise to the world, that he saith, I will do it 'assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole soul' (Jer 32:41).

Now this is of singular comfort to sensible sinners; what more excellent ground of consolation to such than to hear that the God against whom they have sinned should himself take care to provide them a Saviour. There are some poor sinners in the world that have given such way to discouragement, from the sense of the greatness of their sins, that they dare not think upon God, nor the sins which they have committed; but the reason is that they are ignorant that God's heart was wrapped up in this good work of providing and sending a Saviour. Let such hearken now to the call of God—'Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee' (Isa 44:22). Ho! turn again, hearken; the heart of God is much set upon mercy; from the beginning of the world, he resolved and promised, aye, and swore we should have a Saviour.

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 392

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

Fifth. He was promised in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and

Hezekiah, kings of Judah—

1. By the name of a ‘branch’—’ In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious’ (Isa 4:2).

2. Under the name of the ‘son of a virgin’—’ Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, bear a son, and call his name Immanuel.’ This Matthew expounds on Christ (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:23).

3. He was promised under the name of a ‘rod’—’ There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.’ This answered the text: David was the son of Jesse, and Christ the Son of David (Isa 11:1, 2).

4. He is promised under the title of a ‘king’—’ Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness,—and a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land’ (Isa 32:1, 2).

5. He was promised under the name of an ‘elect servant’—’ Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighted; I have put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, lift up, or cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench’ (Isa 42:1-3; Matt 12:17-20).

6. He was promised to Jeremiah under the name of ‘the Lord our Righteousness’—’ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall reign and prosper; and shall execute judgment—in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ (Jer 23:5, 6).

7. He was promised by the prophet Ezekiel under the name of ‘David, a shepherd’—’ And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David is a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken it (Eze 24:23; John 10:1-3).

8. He was promised by the prophet Daniel under the name of ‘Messiah, or Christ, the most holy’—’ And after three and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off, but not for himself’ (Dan 9:26).

9. He was promised by the prophet Micah under the name of the ‘ruler in Israel’—’ But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come—that is to be ruler in Israel’ (Micah 5:2; Matt 2:6).

10. He was promised to Haggai as ‘the desire of all nations’—’ I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts’ (Hagg 2:7).

11. Zechariah promised him under the name of ‘servant and branch’—’ For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.’ And again, ‘Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory’ (Zech 3:8, 6:12, 13).

12. Malachi promised him under the name of ‘the Lord, and the messenger of the covenant’—’ Behold, I will send my messenger. He shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts (Mal 3:1).

Indeed, the Scriptures of the Old Testament are filled with promises of the Messiah to come, prophetical promises, and typical promises, for all the types and shadows of the Saviour are virtually so many promises.

Sixth. Having therefore touched upon the prophetical, I will briefly touch on the typical promises also, for as God spake at sundry times to the fathers, so also in diverse manners, prophetically, providentially, typically, and all of the Messias (Heb 1:1). The types of the Saviour were various—1. Sometimes, he was typed out by men; 2. Sometimes by beasts; 3. Sometimes by insensible creatures.

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 391

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

This Zacharias testified when he was filled with the Holy Ghost; for, speaking of the Messiah or the Saviour, he saith that God spoke of him by the mouth of all the prophets who have been since the world began; to which I will add that of Peter, ‘Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days’ (Luke 1:69, 70; Acts 3:24).

From these texts, it is evident that in every generation or age of the world, God did give his people a promise, and so ground for a believing remembrance, that he would one day send them a Saviour; for indeed the promise is not only a ground for remembrance but for a believing remembrance. What God saith is sufficient ground for faith because he is truth and cannot lie or repent. But that is not all; his heart was engaged, yea, all his heart, in the promise he spoke of sending us a Saviour.

From this observation, I shall inquire into these three things: FIRST, what it is to be a Saviour. SECOND, how it appears that God has promised his people a Saviour throughout the ages. THIRD, that this was ground for believing remembrance that a Saviour should one day come.

FIRST. What it is to be a Saviour.

First, the word ‘Saviour’ is easy to understand. It is all one with Deliverer, Redeemer, &c. ‘A Saviour, Jesus,’ both words are of the same signification and are doubled, perhaps to teach us that the person mentioned in the text is not called ‘Jesus’ only to distinguish him from other men—for names are given to distinguish—but also and especially to specify his office; his name is Saviour because it was to be his work, his office, his business in the world. His name shall be called Jesus, ‘for he shall save his people from their sins’ (Matt 1:21).

Second. This word ‘Saviour’ is so significant that it has a place in all Christ’s undertakings: for whatever he does in his mediation, he does as a Saviour. He interposes between God and man as a Saviour; he engages against sin, the devil, death, and hell as a Saviour and triumphs over them by himself as a Saviour.

Third. The word ‘Saviour,’ as I said, is all one with Redeemer, Deliverer, Reconciler, Peace-maker, or the like; for though there be variation in the terms, yet Saviour is the intendment of them all. By redeeming he becomes a Saviour, by delivering he becomes a Saviour, by reconciling he becomes a Saviour, and by making peace he becometh a Saviour. But I pass this now, intending to speak more to the same question afterward.

SECOND. It appears that God has promised his people a Saviour throughout history.

It appears evidently, for so soon as man had sinned, God came to him with a heart full of promise and continued to renew and renew until the time of the promised Messiah to be revealed was come.

[First.] He promised him under the name of ‘the seed of the women,’ after our first father had sinned—’I will also put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel’ (Gen 3:15).[1] This the apostle hath his eye upon when he saith, ‘When the fulness of the time has come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law’ (Gal 4:4,5).

Second. God renewed this promise to Abraham and told him Christ should be his seed, saying, ‘In thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed’ (Gen 12:3). ‘Now,’ saith Paul, ‘to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ (Gal 3:16).

Third. He was promised in the time of Moses under the name of a ‘prophet’—’ I will raise them up,’ saith God to him, a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee’ (Deut 18:18). This Peter expounds on Christ, ‘For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; he shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you’ (Acts 3:22). Fourth. He promised him to David under the title of a ‘son,’ saying, ‘I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son’ (2 Sam 7:14). For this the apostle expounded of the Saviour, saying, ‘Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee’; and again, ‘I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son’ (Heb 1:5).

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,