Wherefore, it is evident that saints neither can nor dare adventure to plead their cause. Alas! the Judge is the almighty and eternal God; the law broken is the holy and perfect rule of God, in itself a consuming fire. The sin is so odious, and a thing so abominable, that it is enough to make all the angels blush to hear it but so much as once mentioned in so holy a place as that is where this great God doth sit to judge. This sin now hangs about the neck of him that hath committed it; yea, it covereth him as doth a mantle. The adversary is bold, cunning, and audacious, and can word a thousand of us into an utter silence in less than half a quarter of an hour. What, then, should the sinner, if he could come there, do at this bar to plead? Nothing; nothing for his own advantage. But now comes in his mercy-he has an Advocate to plead his cause-‘If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ -John Bunyan, The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate
Tag: John Bunyan
The Pilgrim: Clothed Bodies with Rent Souls
No suit of apparel is by God thought good enough for the soul, but that which is made by God himself, and that is that curious thing, the body. But oh! how little is this considered, namely, the greatness of the soul. Tis the body, the clothes, the suit of apparel, that our foolish fancies are taken with, not at all considering the richness and excellency of that great and more noble part, the soul, for which the body is made a mantle to wrap it up in, a garment to clothe it withal. If a man gets a rent in his clothes, it is little in comparison of a rent in his flesh; yea, he comforts himself when he looks on that rent, saying, Thanks be to God, it is not a rent in my flesh. But ah! on the contrary, how many are there in the world that are more troubled for that they have a rent, a wound, or a disease in the body, than for that they have for the souls that will be lost and cast away. – John Bunyan, The Greatness of the Soul
The Pilgrim: Sunday is A Market Day
Make the Lord’s day the market for thy soul; let the whole day be spent in prayer, repetitions, or meditations; lay aside the affairs of the other part of the week; let thy sermon thou hast heard be converted into prayer. Shall God allow thee six days, and wilt thou not afford him one? -John Bunyan, Mr. John Bunyan’s Dying Sayings
The Pilgrim: The Chief Affliction in Affliction
Nothing can render affliction so insupportable as the load of sin; would you, therefore, be fitted for afflictions, be sure to get the burden of your sins laid aside, and then what afflictions soever you may meet with will be very easy to you. – John Bunyan, Mr. John Bunyan’s Dying Sayings
The Pilgrim: The Magnitude of Sin
Sin turns all God’s grace into wantonness; it is the dare of his justice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer of his patience, the slight of his power, and the contempt of his love. -John Bunyan, Mr. John Bunyan’s Dying Sayings
The Pilgrim: Thy Righteousness is in Heaven
But one day, as I was passing in the field, and that too with some dashes on my conscience, fearing lest yet all was not right, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, Thy righteousness is in heaven; and methought withal, I saw with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at God’s right hand: there, I say, was my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, He wants My righteousness; for that was just before Him. I also saw moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Heb. xiii. 8.
Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed; I was loosed from my afflictions and irons; my temptations also fled away; so that from that time those dreadful scriptures of God left off to trouble me: now went I also home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God; so when I came home, I looked to see if I could find that sentence; Thy righteousness is in heaven, but could not find such a saying; wherefore my heart began to sink again, only that was brought to my remembrance, 1 Cor. i. 30, Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; by this word I saw the other sentence true. -John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
Hero 2013: The Pilgrim
I don’t believe the Bible is a book of heroes. The Bible does have heroes in it, but that is not what it is about. It is a book about the Hero. Nonetheless, I do believe in having heroes, and I believe it is Biblical to have them.
Heroes are not perfect, and thus they point us to Christ in three ways. Their faults (weaknesses and sins) point us to the Savior that they, and we, all need. With this foundation we learn two further truths concerning their strengths. First, they are a result of God’s gifting and working in them such that He gets all the glory. Second, their strengths also point us to Jesus by whom they are graded – Jesus is the ultimate curve breaker. All heroes are judged in relation to Him.
Every year I single out one hero to study in particular. This year I will study the life and works of John Bunyan.
Every week I will post some gleanings from Bunyan. All such posts will be marked, “The Pilgrim,” a name easily understood by many as a reference to his famous Pilgrims Progress. The life of John Bunyan simply makes no sense unless He was living for another land in loyalty to a higher King.
Bunyan was born in 1628 at Elstow near Bedford. His father was a brazier. Though convicted at times, he was a foul-mouthed blasphemous youth. As a young man he joined Cromwell’s army. A year or two after being discharged from the army he married an unknown God-fearing woman. By her books and devotion he was convicted and attempted to stop swearing and attend church. Under the influence of his pastor, John Gifford, Christ called John Bunyan out of darkness, and into a kingdom of light.
In 1655 he began preaching. He was arrested in 1660 on the charges of preaching without official rights from the king. He was offered freedom if he promised not to preach. He refused and spent 12 years in prison. His second wife, Elizabeth, pled boldly and much before authorities for his release. These years were especially hard as one of his four children was blind. When released he enjoyed only a few years of freedom before he was arrested again. John Owen, known as the Prince of the Puritans, successfully pled for his release.
Bunyan was like Paul in prison. The prison confinement did not contain his influence, but multiplied as he wrote prolifically. But unlike Paul he had no formal education, no degrees, and knew nothing of Hebrew or Greek, and yet the Banner of Truth edition of his collected works is comprised of three large volumes in double-columned format with small print spanning 2,319 pages. His works are rich with the Word of God; as Spurgeon said, his blood was “Bibline.” These bible-saturated works show us his sustaining meditations during his imprisonments and trials. He, like father Abraham and the rest of the saints of Hebrews 11, lived upon the promises of another world.
No Other Boast 