Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Inferences from Thus Coming to God by Christ, 225.

 

1. That is the world that God commands, but this is the one that he slights and considers. (2 Thess 1:5,6) Hence, that is called the kingdom of God, but this is an ‘evil world.’ (Gal 1:4) Now let us conclude, that since God made both, he can judge which of the two is best; yea, best able to judge thereof. I would rather refer you to the judgment of God in this matter, for should I put you upon asking of him as to this, that is, coming to God by Christ, perhaps you would say, he is as little able to give an account of this matter as yourselves. But I hope you think God knows, and therefore I refer you to the judgment of God, which you have in the Scriptures of truth—’ Heaven is his throne, and the earth is his footstool.’ I hope you will say there is some difference. The Lord is the God of that, the devil is the god and prince of this. Thus, it appears there is some difference between them.

2. That world, and those that are counted worthy of it, shall all be everlasting; but so shall not this, nor the inhibitors of it. The earth with the works thereof shall be burned up, and the men that are of it shall die in like manner. (2 Peter 3) ‘But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded in the world without end.’ (Isa 45:17) This world, with its lovers, will end in a burning hell; but the world to come has not faded away. (1 Peter 1:3,4)

3. The world that we are now in, has its best comforts mixed either with crosses or curses; but that comes with neither. There shall be no more curse: and as for crosses, all tears shall be wiped from the eyes of those that dwell there. There will be nothing but ravishing pleasures, and holy; there will be no cessation of joys, nor any speck of pollution. ‘In thy presence is fullness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.’ (Psa 16:11)

4. Their men shall be made like angels, ‘neither can they die anymore.’ (Luke 20:35,36) There shall they behold the face of God and his Son, and swim in the enjoyment forever.

5. There men shall see themselves beyond all misery and shall know that it will be utterly impossible that anything like sorrow, grief, sickness, or discontent, should touch them more.

6. There men shall be rewarded by God for what they have done and suffered according to his will for his sake; there they shall eat and drink their comforts, and wear them to their everlasting consolation.

7. They are all kings that go to that world, and so shall be proclaimed there. They shall also be crowned with crowns, and they shall wear crowns of life and glory, crowns of everlasting joy, and crowns of lovingkindness; yea, ‘In that day the Lord of hosts himself shall be for a crown of glory to those that are his people.’ (Heb 2:7, Isa 28:5, 35:10, Psa 103:4) Now, if this world, though no more could be said of it than is said in these few lines, is not infinitely far better than what the present world is, I have missed it in my thoughts. But the coming man, the man that comes to God by Christ, is satisfied, knows what he does; and if his way, all his way thither, were strewed with burning coals, he would choose, God helping him, to tread that path rather than to have his portion with them that perish.

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Inferences from Thus Coming to God by Christ, 224.

 

2. Now if this be true, that faith, true faith, is so forcible a thing as to take a man from his seat of ease, and make him come to God by Christ as afore, then, is it not truly inferred from hence that those who come not to God by Christ have no faith. What! Is man such a fool as to believe things, and yet not look after them? To believe great things, and yet not to concern himself with them? Who would knowingly go over a pearl, and yet not count it worth stooping for? Believe thou art what thou art; believe hell is what it is; believe death and judgment are coming, as they are; and believe that the Father and the Son are, as by the Holy Ghost in the Word they are described, and sit still in thy sins if thou canst. Thou canst not sit still; faith is forcible. Faith is grounded upon the voice of God in the Word, upon the teaching of God in the Word. And it pleases God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe; for believing makes them heartily close in with, and embrace what by the Word is set before them, because it seeth the reality of them.

Shall God speak to man's soul, and shall not man believe? Shall man believe what God says, and nothing at all regard it? It cannot be. 'Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.' And we know that when faith comes, it purifies the heart of what is opposite to God and the salvation of the soul.

So, then, those men who are at ease in a sinful course, or who come not to God by Christ are those who have no faith, and must therefore perish with the vile and unbelievers. (Rev 21:8)

The whole world is divided into two sorts of men—believers and unbelievers. The godly are called believers; and why believers, but because they are they that have given credit to the great things of the gospel of God? These believers are here in the text called also comers, or they that come to God by Christ, because whoso believes will come; for coming is a fruit of faith in the habit, or, if you will, it is faith in exercise; yet faith must have a being in the soul before the soul can put it into the act.

This therefore further evidences that they that come not, have no faith, are not believers, belong not to the household of faith, and must perish—' For he that believes not, shall be damned.'

Nor will it be to any boot to say, I believe there is a God and a Christ, for still thy sitting doth demonstrate that either thou lies in what thou sayest, or that thou believes with a worse than a false faith. But the object of my faith is true. I answer, so is the object of the faith of devils; for they believe that there is one God and one Christ, yet their faith, as to the root and exercise of it, is notwithstanding no such faith as is that faith that saves, or that is intended in the text, and that by which men come to God through Christ. Wherefore still, oh, thou slothful one, thou deceives thyself! Thy not coming to God by Christ declared to thy face that thy faith is not good, consequently, that thou feeds on ashes, and thy deceived heart has turned thee aside, that thou canst not deliver thy soul, nor say, 'Is there not a lie in my right hand?' (Isa 44:20) Third. Is there a man who comes to God through Christ? Thence I infer that the world to come is better than this; yes, so much better as to quit cost and bear charges of coming to God, from this, by Christ, to that. Though there is a world to come, if it were no better than this, one had an as good stay here as seeking that, or if it were better than this and would bear charges if a man left this for that, and that was all, still the one would be as good as the other. But the man that comes to God by Christ has chosen the infinitely good world—a world, between which there can be no comparison. This must be granted, because he who comes to God by Christ is said to have made the best choice, even choosing a city that has foundations. (Heb 11:10) Several things make it manifest enough that he who comes to God by Christ has made the best market or chosen the best world.

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Inferences from Thus Coming to God by Christ, 223.

 

1. Faith is of a strong and forcible quality, whether true or false.

(1.) A false faith has done great things; it has made men believe lies, plead for them, and stand to them, to the damnation of their souls. 'God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,' to their damnation. (2 Thess 2:11, 12) Hence, it is said, that men make lies 'their refuge.' Why? Because they 'trust in a lie.' (Jer 28:15) A lie, if believed, if a man has faith in it, it will do great things, because faith is of a forcible quality. Suppose thyself to be twenty miles from home, and there some man comes and possesses thee that thy house, thy wife, and children, are all burned with the fire. If thou believe it, though there should be nothing of truth in what thou hast heard, will this lie 'drink up thy spirit,' even as if the tidings were true? How many are there in the world whose hearts Satan has filled with the belief that their state and condition in another world are good? and these are made to live by lying hope that all shall be well with them, and so they are kept from seeking for that which will indeed make them happy. Man is naturally apt and willing to be deceived, and therefore, a groundless faith is more taking and forcible. Fancy will help to confirm a false faith, and so will conceit and idleness of spirit. There is also in man a willingness to take things upon trust, without searching into the ground and reason for them. Nor will Satan be behind the hand to prompt and encourage you to believe a lie, for that he knows will be a means to bring you to the end to which he greatly desires you to come. Wherefore let men beware, and, oh, that they would, of a false and lying faith!

(2.) But if a false faith is so forcible, what is a truth? What force, I say, is there in a faith that is begotten by truth, managed by truth, fed by truth, and preserved by the truth of God? This faith will make invisible things visible; not fantastically so, but substantially so—"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' (Heb 11:1) True faith carries along with it evidence of the certainty of what it believes and that evidence is the infallible Word of God. There is a God, a Christ, a heaven, saith the good faith, for the Word of God doth say so. The way to this God and this heaven is by Christ, for the Word of God doth say so. If I run not to this God by this Christ, this heaven shall never be my portion, for the Word of God doth say so. So, then, thus believing makes the man come to God by him. His thus believing, then, it is that carries him away from this world, that makes him trample upon this world, and that gives him the victory over this world. 'For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? He came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness because the Spirit is truth.' (1 John 5:4-6)

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Inferences from Thus Coming to God by Christ, 222.

 

(1.) Then he is a man concerned for his soul, for his immortal soul. The soul is a thing, though of most worth, least minded by most. The souls of most lie waste while all other things are enclosed. But this man has got it by the end, that his soul is of more value than the world, wherefore he is concerned for his soul. Soul concerns are concerns of the highest nature and concerns that arise from thoughts most deep and ponderous. He never yet knew what belonged to great and deep thoughts that are stranger to soul concerns. Now the man that comes to God by Christ, is a man that is engaged in soul concerns.

(2.) He is a man whose spirit is subjected to a suitableness to spiritual things, for a carnal mind cannot suit with and be delighted in these things: ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.’ (Rom 8:7) This is the man that God has tamed, and keeps tame by himself, while all others run wild, as the assess upon the mountains. If birds could speak, surely they would tell that those that are kept in the cage have with them another temper than they that range the air, and fly in the fields and woods. Yea, and could those kept tame express themselves to the rest, they would tell that they have white bread, milk, and sugar; while those without make a life out of maggots and worms. They are also in a place where there are better things, and their companions are the children of men; besides, they learn such notes and can whistle such tunes, as other birds are strangers to. Oh! the man whose spirit is subjected to God, betwixt whom and God there is a reconciliation, not only as to a difference made up, but also as to a oneness of heart; none knows what lumps of sugar God gives that man, nor what notes and tunes God learns that man: ‘He hath put a new song in my mouth,’ saith David, ‘even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.’ (Psa 40:3)

Second. Is there a man that comes to God by Christ? Thence I infer that there is that believes there is a world to come. No man looks after what he believes is not; faith must be before coming to Christ will be; coming is the fruit of faith. He that comes must believe antecedent to his coming; wherefore it is said, ‘we walk by faith’—that is, we come to God through Christ by faith. (Heb 11:7, 2 Cor 5:7) And hence I learn two things:—1. That faith is of a strong and forcible quality. 2. They who come not to God by Christ have no faith.

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Inferences from Thus Coming to God by Christ, 221.

 

And now I come to draw some inferences from this point as well, as I have already done from those going before it. You see that I have now been speaking to you of the man that comes to God, both concerning the way he comes and also concerning the manner of spirit in which he comes, and hence I may well infer,

First, he is no fool, no fool according to the best judgment that comes to God by Christ. The world indeed will count him one; for the things that be of the Spirit of God are foolishness to them; but indeed, and in the verdict of true judgment, he is not so.

1. For that, he now seeks and intermeddles with all wisdom. He has chosen to be concerned with the very head and fountain of wisdom; for Christ is the wisdom of God, and the way to the Father by Christ is the greatest of mysteries; and to choose to walk in that way, the fruits of the most sage advice; wherefore he is not a fool that thus concerns himself. (Prov 18:1, 1 Cor 1)

2. It is not a sign of foolishness to prevent ruin, is it? They are the prudent men that foresee evil and hide themselves, and the fools that go on and are punished. (Prov 18:8, 27:12) Why, this man foresees an evil, the greatest evil, sin, and the punishment of the soul for sin in hell; and he flies to Christ, who is the refuge that God has provided for penitent sinners; and is this a sign of a fool? God make me such a fool, and thee that read these lines such a fool, and then we shall be wiser than all men that are counted wise by the wisdom of this world. Is it a sign of a fool to agree with one’s adversary while we are in the way of him, even before he delivers us to the judge? Yes, it is a piece of the highest wisdom.

Is he a fool who chooses for himself long-lasting things, or is he one whose best things will rot in a day? Sinners, ‘before your pots can feel the thorns [before you can see where you are], God shall take you away as with a whirlwind, both living and in his wrath.’ (Psa 58:9) But this man has provided for things; like the tortoise, he has a shell on his back, so strong and sound that he fears not to suffer a loaden cart to go over him. The Lord is his rock, his defense, his refuge, his high tower, unto which he doth continually resort.

Was the unjust steward a fool in providing for himself hereafter? for providing friends to receive him to harbor when others should turn him out of their doors? (Luke 16:8,9) No more is he that gets another house for his harbor before death shall turn him out of doors here.

3. As he that cometh to God by Christ is no fool, so he is no little-spirited fellow. There is a generation of men in this world that count themselves as men of the largest capacities, yet the greatness of their desires lifts them no higher than things below. If they can, with their net of craft and policy, encompass a bulky lump of earth, oh, what a treasure they have engrossed themselves in! Meanwhile, the man in the text has laid siege to heaven, has found out the way to get into the city, and is resolved, with and by God’s help, to make that his own. Earth is a drossy thing in this man’s account; earthly greatness and splendors are like vanishing bubbles in this man’s esteem. None but God, as the end of his desires, none but Christ, as the means to accomplish this his end, are things counted great by this man. No company now is acceptable to this man but the Spirit of God, Christ and angels, and saints, as fellow heirs with himself. All other men and things he deals with as strangers and pilgrims were wont to do. This man’s mind soars higher than the eagle or stork of the heavens. He is for musing about things that are above, and their glory, and for thinking what shall come to pass hereafter.

4. But as I have shown you what he is not, so now let me, by a few words, tell you what he is.

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The sincere Christian's coming to God by Christ, 220.

 

Third, I come now to the third man—to wit, to the sincere and upright man that cometh to God by Christ. And although this may, in some sense, apply to the two former, for his coming is not worthy to be counted coming to God, that is, not in sincerity and uprightness, yet by such an one I now mean, one that has been called to the faith, and that has in some good measure of sincerity and uprightness therein abode with God.

This man also comes to God by Christ, but his coming is to be distinguished, I mean, in the main of it, from the coming of the other two. The other comes for the knowledge of forgiveness, a thing that the upright and faithful Christian, for the most part, has a comfortable faith in and for which he is often helped to give thanks to God. I do not say he doubted not, or that he has not had his evidence sometimes clouded; nor do I say that the knowledge of his reconciliation to God by Christ Jesus is so high, so firm, so fixed, and steadfast, that it cannot be shaken, or that he needs no more. I will then explain myself. He comes not to God as an unconverted sinner comes; he comes not as a backslider comes when he is returning to God from his backslidings; but he comes as a son, as one of the household of God, and he comes as one that has not, since correction, wickedly departed from his God.

1. He then comes to God with that access and godly boldness that is only proper to such as himself, that is, to them that walk with God. (Rom 5:2) Thus, everyone that shall be saved doth not do; thus, every one that shall be saved cannot do—for instance, the two spoken of before.

2. He comes to God by Christ constantly, by prayer, by meditation, by every ordinance. For therefore he maketh use of ordinances, because by them through Christ he gutted into the presence of God. (Psa 27:4)

3. He comes to God through Christ, because he judges that God is only that good, that blessedness, that happiness that is worth looking after; that good and that blessedness that alone can fill the soul to the brim; that good and that happiness that is worthy of our hearts, souls, and spirits. Hence David expresses his coming to God by panting, thirsting, crying, and saying, ‘My soul panted after thee, O God.’ And again, ‘My soul thirsted for God, for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God?’ (Psa 42:1,2) And again, ‘I will go to the altar of God, unto God, my exceeding joy.’ (Psa 43:4) And hence it was that he so envied the swallow and sparrow, even because they could come to the altar of God, where he had promised to give his presence, when he, as I think, by the rage of Saul, was forced to abide remote. ‘My soul longed,’ saith he, ‘yea, even fainted for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cried out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God: Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they will be still praising thee.’ Then, after a few more words, he said, ‘For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper,’ I would choose rather to sit at the threshold of thy house, ‘than to dwell in the tents of wickedness’; and then renders the reason—’ For the Lord is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory,’ &c. (Psa 84)

The presence of God and the glory and soul-ravishing goodness of that presence are things that the world does not understand, nor can they, as such, desire to know what they are.

4. These good men come to God upon other accounts also; for so it is that they have many concerns with God.

[Concern for themselves.]—(1.) They come to him for a clearer discovery of themselves, for they desire to know how frail they are, because the more they know that, the more they are engaged in their souls to take heed to their ways and to fear lest they should tempt their God to leave them. (Psa 39:1-8)

(2.) They come to God by Christ for the weakening of their lusts and corruptions, for they are a sore, yea, a plague to a truly sanctified soul. Those, to be rid of which, if it might be, a godly man chooses rather to die than to live. This is what David meant when he cried. ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,’ (Psa 51:10), and Paul, when he cried out, ‘O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’ (Rom 7:24)

(3.) They come to God by Christ for the renewing and strengthening of their graces. The graces that the godly have received are, and they feel they are, subject to decay; yea, they cannot live without a continual supply of grace. This is the meaning of ‘Let us have grace,’ and ‘Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Heb 4:16)

(4.) They come to God by Christ to be helped against those temptations that they may meet withal. (Matt 6:13) They know that every new temptation has a new snare and a new evil in it; but what snare and what evil do they not know at present? But they know that their God knows and can deliver us out of temptation when we are in it and keep us out while we are out.

(5.) They come to God by Christ for a blessing upon that means of grace which God has afforded for the succor of the soul and the building of it up in the faith, knowing that as the means, so a blessing upon it, is from God. (2 Thess 3:1) And for this, they have encouragement because God has said, ‘I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.’ (Psa 132:15)

(6.) They come to God by Christ for the forgiveness of daily infirmities (Psa 19:12) and for continuing them in the light of his countenance, notwithstanding. Thus he also always accepts them and their services and grants that an answer of peace may be returned from their Father into their bosoms, for this is the life of their souls. There are a great many such things that the sincere and upright man comes to God for—too many here to mention. But again,

[Concern for the church and others.]—(1.) This man also comes to God to beseech him for the flourishing of Christ’s kingdom, which he knows will never be until the Antichrist is dead, and till the Spirit be more plentifully poured upon us from on high. Therefore, he also cries to God for the downfall of the first and for the pouring out of the other.

(2.) He comes to God for the hastening of the gathering of his elect, for it is an affliction to him to think that so many of those for whom Christ died should be still in a posture of hostility against him. (Psa 122:6)

(3.) He comes to God for a spirit of unity to be poured out among believers, for for the divisions of Reuben he has great thoughts of heart.

(4.) He comes to God to pray for magistrates, and that God would make speed to set them all to that work that is so desirable to his church—that is, to ‘hate the whore,’ ‘to eat her flesh,’ to ‘make her desolate,’ ‘and burn her with fire.’ (1 Tim 2:1, Rev 17:16)

(5.) He comes to God to beg that he would hasten that great and notable day, the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus, for he knows that Christ will never be exalted as he must be till then; yea, he also knows that God’s church will never be as she would and shall be till then. (Rev 22:20)

(6.) But the main meaning, if I may so call it, of this high text is this: that they that come to God by him—that is, by Christ—are those that come by Christ to God to enjoy him by faith and spirit here, and by open vision and unspeakable possession of him in the next world. This is the great design of the soul in its coming to God by Jesus Christ, and it comes to him by Jesus Christ because it dares not come by itself and because God himself has made him the way, the new and living way. Here, as I said, the Father meets with that which pleases him, and the soul with that which saves her. Here is righteousness and merits to spare, even righteousness that can justify the ungodly. Here is always, how empty soever we are, a fullness of merit always presented to God by Christ for my obtaining of that which at any time I want, whether wisdom, grace, Spirit, or any good thing soever; only, since I was upon this subject, I thought a little to touch upon things in this order, for the enlarging of thy thoughts, for the conviction of thy spirit, for the stirring of thee up to God, and for the showing of the good signs of grace where it is, where is abused, and where any are seeking after it.

Ta

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Person Interested In The Intercession Of Christ, 219.

 

2. And as he gives us a second testimony, that the world and himself are so as at first he believed they were, so by this his returning he testifies that God and Christ are the same, and much more than ever he believed at first they were. This man has made a proof before and a proof after conviction of the evil of one and the good of the other. This man has proved it by feeling and seeing, and by receiving grace before and after. This man God has set up to be a witness; this man is two men, has the testimony of two men, and must serve in the place of two men. He knows what it is to be fetched from a state of nature by grace, but this is something all Christians know as well as he does. Ay, but he knows what it is to be fetched from the world, from the devil, and hell, the second time; and that, but few professors know, for few that fall away return to do again. (Heb 6:4-8) Ay, but this man comes again, wherefore there is news in his mouth, sad news, dreadful news, and news that is to make the standing saint take heed lest he falls. The returning backslider, therefore, is a rare man, a man of worth and intelligence, a man to whom the men of the world should flock and to whom they should learn to fear the Lord God. He also is a man of whom the saints should receive both caution, counsel, and strength in their present standing, and they should, by his harms, learn to serve the Lord with fear and to rejoice with trembling. (1 Cor 10:6–13, Isa 551:11–13 Luke 22:32)

This man has the second time also had a proof of God’s goodness in his Christ unto him, a proof which the standing Christian has not—I would not tempt him that stands to fall; but the good that a returning backslider has received at God’s hands, and at the hand of Christ, is a double good; he has been converted twice, fetched from the world, and from the devil, and from himself twice; oh, grace! and has been made to know the stability of God’s covenant, the unchangeableness of God’s mind, the sure and lasting truth of his promise in Christ, and of the sufficiency of the merits of Christ, over and over.

[The manner of a backslider’s return.]—In the manner of this man’s coming to God by Christ, I shall also speak a word or two. He comes as the newly-awakened sinner comes, and that from the same motives and the knowledge of things as he hath over and above (which he had as good have been without), that which the newly-awakened sinner has not; to wit, the guilt of his backsliding, which is a guilt of a worse complexion, of a deeper dye, and of a heavier nature than is any guilt else in the world. He is also attended to with fears and doubts that arise from other reasons and considerations than do the doubts and fears of the newly-awakened man; doubts build upon the vileness of his backsliding. He also has more dreadful scriptures to consider, and they will look more wishfully in his face, yea, and will also make him take notice of their grim physiognomy than has the newly-awakened man. Besides, as a punishment for his backsliding, God seems to withdraw the sweet influences of his Spirit as if he would not suffer him to pray nor to repent anymore (Psa 51:11), as if he would now take all away from him and leave him to those lusts and idols that he left his God to follow. Swarms of his new rogueries shall haunt him in every place, and that not only in the guilt but in the filth and pollution of them. (Prov 14:14) None know the things that haunt a backslider’s mind; his new sins are all turned into talking devils, threatening devils, and roaring devils within him. Besides, he doubts the truth of his first conversion; consequently, he has it lying upon him as a strong suspicion that there was nothing of truth in all his first experience; this also leads to his heels and makes him come to sense and feel heavier and with greater difficulty to God by Christ. As the faithfulness of other men kills him, he cannot see an honest, humble, holy, faithful servant of God, but he is pierced and wounded at the heart. Ay says within himself that man fears God, that man has faithfully followed God, that man, like the elect angels, has kept his place, but I have fallen from my station like a devil. That man honors God, edifies the saints, convinces the world to condemn them, and becomes the heir of righteousness, which is by faith.

But I have dishonored God, stumbled and grieved saints, made the world blaspheme, and, for all I know, been the cause of the damnation of many! These are the things, I say, together with many more of the same kind, that come with him; yea, they will come with him, yea, and will stare him in the face, tell him of his baseness, and laugh him to scorn, all the way that he is coming to God by Christ—I know what I say!—and this makes his coming to God by Christ hard and difficult to him. Besides, he thinks saints will be aware of him, will be shy of him, will be afraid to trust him, yea, will tell his Father of him and make intercession against him, as Elias did against Israel (Rom 11:2), or as the men did that were fellow-servants with him that took his brother by the throat. (Matt 18:31) Shame covereth his face all the way he comes; he doth not know what to do; the God he is returning to is the God that he has slighted, the God before whom he has preferred the vilest lust; and he knows God knows it and has before him all his ways. The man who has been a backslider and is returning to God can tell strange stories, and yet such are very true. No man was in the whale’s belly and came out again alive, but backsliding and returning Jonah; consequently, no man could tell how he was there, what he felt there, what he saw there, and what workings of heart he had when he was there, as well as he.

Ta

Tagged Works o

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Person Interested In The Intercession Of Christ, 218.

 

Of the backslider's return to Christ.

Second, I shall now come to the second man mentioned, to wit, the man that is turning back from his backsliding, and speak something also about his coming again to God by Christ.

There are two things remarkable about the return of a backslider to God by Christ. 1. The first is, that he gives a second testimony to the truth of all things spoken of before. 2. He also gives a second testimony of the necessity of coming to God by Christ. Of the manner of his coming to God by Christ perhaps I may also speak a word or two. But,

1. The returning again of the backslider gives a second testimony to the truth of man's state being by nature miserable, of the vanity of this world, of the severity of the law, certainty of death, and terribleness of judgment to come. His first coming told them so, but his second coming told them so with a double confirmation of the truth. It is so, says his first coming. Oh, it is so, says his second. The backsliding of a Christian comes through the overmuch persuading of Satan and lust, that the man was mistaken, and that there was no such horror in the things from which he fled, nor so much good in the things to which he hasted. Turn again, fool, says the devil, turn again to thy former course; I wonder what frenzy it was that drove thee to thy heels, and that made thee leave so much good behind thee, as other men find in the lusts of the flesh and the good of the world. As for the law, death, and imagination of the day of judgment, they are but mere scarecrows, set up by political heads, to keep the ignorant in subjection. Well, says the backslider, I will go back again and see; so, fool as he is, he goes back, and has all things ready to entertain him; his conscience sleeps, the world smiles, the flesh is sweet, carnal company compliments him, and all that can be got is presented to this backslider to accommodate him. But, behold, he doth again begin to see his own nakedness, and he perceives that the law is whetting his axe. As for the world, he perceives it as a bubble; he also smells the smell of brimstone, for God hath scattered it upon his tabernacle, and it begins to burn within him. (Job 18:15) Oh! saith he, I am deluded; oh! I am ensnared. My first sight of things was true. I see it is so again. Now he begins to be for flying again to his first refuge; O God, saith he, I am undone, I have turned from thy truth to lies! I believed them such at first, and find them such at last. Have mercy upon me, O God!

This, I say, is a testimony, a second testimony, by the same man, as to the miserable state of man, the severity of the law, the emptiness of the world, the certainty of death, and the terribleness of judgment. This man hath seen it, and seen it again.

A returning backslider is a great blessing, I mean intended to be so, to two sorts of men—1. To the elect uncalled. 2. To the elect that are called, and that at present stand their ground. The uncalled are made to hear him, and consider; the called are made to hear him and are afraid of falling. Behold, therefore, the mystery of God's wisdom, and how willing he is that spectators should be warned and made to take heed. Yea, he will permit that some of his own shall fall into the fire, to convince the world that hell is hot, and to warn their brethren to take heed that they slip not with their feet. I have often said in my heart that this was the cause why God suffered so many of the believing Jews to fall; to wit, that the Gentiles might take heed. (Rom 11:21) O, brethren! saith the backslider that is returned, did you see how I left my God? did you see how I turned again to those vanities from which sometime before I fell? O! I was deluded, I was bewitched, I was deceived; for I found all things from which I fled at first still worse by far when I went to them the second time. Do not backslide. Oh! do not backslide. the first ground of your departing from them was good; never tempt God a second time.

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Person Interested In The Intercession Of Christ, 217.

 

Now, then, I advise thee that hast a mind to come to God by Christ, that thou seek the knowledge of God—’ If thou seek wisdom as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.’ (Prov 2:4,5) And to encourage thee yet further, he is so desirous of communion with men, that he pardons sins for that. Hence he is called not only loving, but love. ‘God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.’ (1 John 4:16)

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

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

This judgment to come is a warm thing to be thought of, an awakening thing to be thought of; it is called the eternal judgment because it is and will be God’s final conclusion with men. This day is called the ‘great and notable day of the Lord,’ (Acts 2:20); the day ‘that shall burn like an oven,’ (Mal 4:1); the day in which the angels shall gather the wicked together, as tares, into bundles, to burn them; but the rest, into his kingdom and glory. This day will be it in which all the bowels of love and compassion shall be shut up to the wicked, and that in which the floodgates of wrath shall be opened, by which shall a plentiful reward be given to evil-doers, but glory to the righteous. (Psa 31:23) This is the day in which men if they could, would creep into the ground for fear; but because they cannot, therefore, they will call and cry to the mountains to fall upon them, but they shall not; therefore, they stand bound to bear their judgment.

This day will be the day of breaking up closet councils, cabinet councils, secret purposes, and hidden thoughts; yea, ‘God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing.’ (Eccl 12:14) I say he shall do it then, for he will both ‘bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the heart.’ (1 Cor 4:5) This is the day that is appointed to put them to shame and contempt for having, in this world, been bold and audacious in their vile and beastly ways. On this day, God will cover all such bold and brazen faces with shame. Now they will blush till the blood is ready to burst through their cheeks. (Dan 12:2) Oh! the confusion and shame that will cover their faces while God is discovering what nasty, beastly, uncomely, and unreasonable life they lived in the world. They shall now see they contemned God, who fed them, that clothed them, that gave them life and limb, and that maintained their breath in their nostrils. But, oh, when they see the gulf before them, and all things ready to receive them in thither; then, they will know what sinning against God means!

And, I say, thou that art for coming to God by Christ must know this, and be well assured of this, or thou wilt never come to God by him.

What of the glory of God shall be put upon them that do indeed come to him will also help in this spiritual journey, if it be well considered by thee. But, perhaps, terror and unbelief will suffer thee to consider but little of that. However, the things afore-mentioned will be goads, and will serve to prick thee forward; if they do so, they will be God’s great blessing unto thee, and that for which thou wilt give him thy thanks forever. (Eccl 12:10,11) Thus I have, in few words, spoken something of the first sort of comers to God by Christ, namely, of the coming of the newly-awakened man. And I say again, if any of the things afore-named be wanting, and are not with his heart, it is a question whether, notwithstanding all the noise that he may make about religion, he will ever come to God by Christ.

1. If he knows not himself and the badness of his condition, wherefore should he come? 2. If he knows not the world, and the emptiness and vanity thereof, wherefore should he come? 3. Wherefore should he come if he knows not the law and the severity thereof? 4. Wherefore should he come if he knows not hell and the torments thereof? 5. If he knows not what death is, wherefore should he come? 6. And if he knows not the Father and the Son, how can he come? 7. And to know that there is a judgment to come is as necessary to his coming as most of the rest of the things propounded. Coming to God by Christ is for shelter, for safety, for advantage, and everlasting happiness. But he that knows not, that understands not the things afore-mentioned, sees not his need of taking shelter, of flying for safety, of coming for advantage to God by Christ. I know there are degrees of this knowledge, and he that has it most warm upon him, in all likelihood, will make most haste; or, as David saith, will hasten his escape ‘from the windy storm and tempest’; and he that sees least is in most danger of being the loiterer, and so of losing the prize; for all that run do not obtain it; all that fight do not win it; and ALL that strive for it have it not. (Psa 55:8, 1 Cor 9:24-26, 2 Tim 2:4,5)

Tagged Works o

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Person Interested In The Intercession Of Christ, 216.

 

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

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

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

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

What is heaven without God? what is ease without the peace and enjoyment of God? What is deliverance from hell without the enjoyment of God? The propounding, therefore, these, and only these, to thyself for thy happiness in thy coming to Jesus Christ is a proposal, not a hair’s breadth higher than what a man without grace can propound. What or who is he that would not go to heaven? What or who is he that would not also have eased from the guilt of sin? And where is the man who chooses to go to hell? But many there be that cannot abide God; no, they like not to go to heaven because God is there. If the devil had heaven to bestow upon men, a vicious and beastly heaven, if it be lawful thus to speak, I durst pawn my soul upon it, was it a thousand times better than it is, that, upon a bare invitation, the foul fiend would have twenty to God’s one. They, I say, cannot abide God; nay, for all, the devil has nothing but hell for them; yet how thick men go to him, but how thinly to God Almighty. The nature of God lieth cross to the lusts of men. This spoils all a holy God, a glorious holy God, an infinitely holy God. But to the soul that is awakened, and that is made to see things as they are; to him, God is what he is in himself, the blessed, the highest, the only eternal good, and he without the enjoyment of whom all things would sound but emptily in the ears of that soul.