Works of John Bunyan — Volume 01

Bun. To whom, said I, why, to every man that hath received a gift from God. Mark, saith the apostle, “As every man that hath received a gift from God,” &c. And again, “You may a...

(7.) Christ hath wonderful love, bowels, and compassions, for those that come to him; for “he will in no wise cast them out.” But the rest will find him a lion rampant; he will...

1. [What God kills]. When God brings sinners into the Covenant of Grace, He doth first kill them with the Covenant of Works, which is the moral law, or Ten Commandments. This is...

But as there he saith, “My judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God;” so in the text he saith, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to...

3. It is so, That they that are coming to Jesus Christ are ofttimes heartily afraid that he will not receive them. Then this shows that they that are coming to Jesus Christ are...

To inquire, then, into this grace, this condescending grace of Christ, and that by searching out how rich Jesus Christ was, and then how poor he made himself, that we through hi...

“For we know not what we should pray for as we ought.” Mark this, “as we ought.” For the not thinking of this word, or at least the not understanding it in the spirit and truth...

As a priest here, he is put under the notion of an angel, of an angel that came and stood at the altar to offer incense for the church, all the time that the seven angels were t...

They shall justify God, and lay the fault upon themselves concluding that it was sin with which their souls did voluntarily work—yea, which their souls did suck in as sweet milk...

This is a self-bemoaning, a bemoaning themselves in secret and retired places. You know it is common with them who are distressed with anguish, though all alone, to cry out to t...

Third. Another motive may be this: The man that groweth in this grace of the fear of the Lord will escape those evils that others will fall into. Where this grace is, it keepeth...

1. To be sure this is inferred, that converted men are not every way, or in every sense, free from the being of sin. For, were they, they need not betake themselves to a throne...

Again; there are no other sins than those against that law given on Sinai, for the which those sins before mentioned were punished; therefore the law given before by the Lord to...

Christians, were you awake, here would be matter of wonder to you, to see a man assaulted with all the power of hell, and yet to come off a conqueror! Is it not a wonder to see...

4. The soul is often called the life of man, not a life of the same stamp and nature of the brute; for the life of man—that is, of the rational creature—is, that, as he is such,...

4. Therefore hope makes the man, be the trials what they will, to keep still close to the way and path of God. ‘My foot,’ said hoping Job, ‘hath held his steps, his way have I k...

Child of God, thou that fearest God, here is mercy nigh thee, mercy enough, everlasting mercy upon thee. This is long-lived mercy. It will live longer than thy sin, it will live...

But to mention some of them. Sometimes they question the very being of God, or foolishly ask how he came to be at first; sometimes they question the truth of his Word, and suspe...

3. Meanings. Next to the word you have the meaning, and the meaning is more difficult to be learned than either the letters or the word; and therefore the perfect understanding...

There is also life for those that come to him, to be had by faith in his flesh and blood. “He that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (John 6:57). And this is a life against t...

For these are formed for that very end, that they might hope in the Lord; yea, the word and testament are given to them for this purpose (Psa 78:5-7). These are prisoners of hop...

How many times are some men put in mind of death by sickness upon themselves, by graves, by the death of others? How many times are they put in mind of hell by reading the Word,...

SECOND. But we will now come to the thing more particularly intended, which is, To show what are the desires of the righteous; that is that which the text calls us to the consid...

2. The rest of the disciples, even all of them, did backslide and leave the Lord Jesus in his greatest straits. “Then all the disciples forsook him and fled,” (Matt 26:56), they...

The name of a king is a name of fear—“And I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts” (Mal 1:14). The name of master is a name of fear—“And if I be a master, where is my fear? s...

Third. I now come to show you what this fear doth in the soul. Now, although this godly fear is not to last always with us, as I shall further show you anon, yet it greatly diff...

FIRST, To begin with the first of these-namely, to show you more particularly of Christ’s office as an Advocate, and wherein it lieth; the which I shall do these three ways-Firs...

You may ask me, what those things are? and I may tell you, first, in general, they are heavenly things, they are eternal things, they are the things that are where Christ sittet...

(2.) As the end of our salvation is that we might enjoy God, so also it is that he by us might be glorified for ever—‘That God in all things might be glorified, through Jesus Ch...

[The manner of a backslider’s return.]—Of 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 tha...

And by his wiles and stratagems he undoes a world of men; but there is a seed, and they shall serve him, and it shall be counted to the Lord for a generation. These shall see th...

4. Join to these the greatness and gravity, the highness and glorious majesty of the Man that is become our Advocate. Says the text, it is Jesus Christ-“We have an Advocate with...

Soul.-Truly, says the soul, methinks that by what you have said, I may have this blessed Jesus to be mine Advocate; for I think, verily, I have entertained him to be mine Advoca...

2. This stumble of theirs might arise from their not observing and keeping in mind the alarm that God gave them of his birth. (1.) God began to give them the alarm at the birth...

First. If thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that God hath allotted thee to do in this world for his name, labour to live much in the favour and sense of thy freedom and l...

And what if thou waitest upon God all thy days? Is it below thee? And what if God will cross his book, and blot out the handwriting that is against thee, and not let thee know i...

2. There is a repentance that will not save, a repentance to be repented of; and a repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. (2 Cor 7:10) Yet so great a similitude and lik...

I will yet give you two or three instances more, wherein it will be manifest that whatever happeneth to thee, I mean as a chastisement for sin, after the spirit of adoption is c...

FIRST. To the first, to wit, that there is a fear of God that flows even from the light of nature. A people may be said to do things in a fear of God, when they act one towards...

And because a miscarriage in this great truth is the most dangerous and damning miscarriage, therefore should professors be the more fearful of swerving aside therefrom. The man...

And it is yet far more evident; for that those that approach this throne of grace, they must do it through believing; for, saith the apostle, ‘How shall they call on him in whom...

And behold again into whose care a broken heart and a contrite spirit hath put this poor creature; he is under the care of God, the care and cure of Christ. If a man was sure th...

2. It is the sin that most suiteth with the conscience: the conscience of the coming sinner tells him that he hath nothing good; that he stands inditeable for ten thousand talen...

The desires of some good Christians are pinioned, and cannot stir, especially these sort of desires; but Christ can and will cut the cord some time or other: and then thou that...

2. The heart, when broken, is like sweet gums and spices when beaten; for as such cast their fragrant scent into the nostrils of men, so the heart when broken casts its sweet sm...

The Lord, by swearing, confirmeth to Christ, and so to us in him, the immutability of his counsel, (Heb 6:16-18), and that he is utterly unchangeable in his resolutions ‘to save...

153. ‘What, thought I, is there but one sin that is unpardonable? But one sin that layeth the soul without the reach of God’s mercy; and must I be guilty of that? Must it needs...

They have gone to God, as the great Creator, and have beheld how wonderful his works have been; they have looked to the heavens above, to the earth beneath, and to all their orn...

4. Consider also of the certainty and terribleness of the day of judgment, when Christ shall sit upon his great white throne, when the dead shall, by the sound of the trump of G...

My dear children, call to mind the former days, “and the years of ancient times: remember also your songs in the night; and commune with your own heart” (Psa 73:5-12). Yea, look...

3. The third Scripture is this—‘We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesu...

5. As he is thus, so again, he is said to be ‘higher than the heavens.’ For such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, and undefiled, separate from sinners, and made...

39. At this I felt my own heart began to shake, as mistrusting my condition to be nought; for I saw that in all my thoughts about religion and salvation, the new birth did never...

They then that have lost, or shall lose their souls are bound to their place, as well as to their sins. When Judas went to hell, he went to his home, ‘to his own place’ (Acts 1:...

1. That nature, as nature, is not capable of serving of God: no, not nature where grace dwells, as considered abstract from that grace that dwells in it. Nothing can be done ari...

113. I had, also, once a sweet glance from that in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in...

5. They fear not God who cry unto him for help in the time of their calamity, and when they are delivered, they return to their former rebellion. This, Moses, in a spirit of pro...

That about the Prodigal seems pertinent also to this matter: “When he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I peri...

2. This life is not only imputed to him that is wrought on by the Spirit of Grace—that is, not only counted his, but also there is put into the soul an understanding, enlightene...

THIRD. And now to the next thing, what it is to pray with the Spirit, and to pray with the understanding also. For the apostle puts a clear distinction between praying with the...

Third, The Father’s giving of them to him, to save them, declares that he is, and will be gentle, and patient towards them, under all their provocations and miscarriages. It is...

What, what shall I say? God’s presence is renewing, transforming, seasoning, sanctifying, commanding, sweetening, and enlightening to the soul! Nothing like it in all the world;...

215. This scripture did also most sweetly visit my soul, “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Oh, the comfort that I have had from this world, “in...

First, I begin, then, with the first; that is, to show you what intercession is. Intercession is prayer; but all prayer is not intercession. Intercession, then, is that prayer t...

“Strive to enter in.” Further, these words put us upon proving the truth of our graces now; I say, they put us upon the proof of the truth of them now; for if the strait gate be...

Justification also is to be taken with reference to actions; and that may be when they are considered, as flowing from true faith; or, because the act done fulfils some transien...

3. As he sees and feels, so he hears that which augments his woe and sorrow. You know, if a man has his bones broken, he does not only see and feel, but oft-times also hears wha...

Coming sinner, what thinkest thou? If Jesus Christ had as little goodness in him as Ahab, he might grant an humble Benhadad life; thou neither beggest of him his crown and digni...

Fourth, A fourth end why the Lord did give the law it was, because they that die out of Jesus Christ might not only have their mouths stopped, but also that their persons “might...

1. But to proceed, this must be, as is evident; for that the things hoped for are put under the very name of the grace that lives in the expectation of them. They are called HOP...

If Satan therefore objecteth, But thou art not elected; answer, But I am coming, Satan, I am coming; and that I could not be, but that the Father draws me; and I am coming to su...

Third. It is yet far more evident that He hath indeed pleased God in the behalf of sinners, in that God hath given Him gifts to distribute to sinners, yea, the worst of sinners,...

Behold then, here is the high priest with his sacrifice; and behold again, how he comes to offer it. He comes to offer his burnt-offering at the call of God; he comes to do it i...

Reader, if thou do find this book empty of fantastical expressions, and without light, vain, whimsical, scholar-like terms, thou must understand it is because I never went to sc...

First. There flows from this godly fear a godly reverence of God. “He is great,” said David, “and greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints.” God, as I have already sho...

(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...

Use Second.-To consider this office of an Advocate in particular; by which consideration these advantages come:-1. To see one is not forsaken for sin.-2. To take courage to cont...

77. About this time I began to break my mind to those poor people in Bedford, and to tell them my condition, which, when they had heard, they told Mr. Gifford of me, who himself...

The First Reason.—Men must be justified from the curse while sinners in themselves, because by nature all are under sin—‘All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. He...

Fourth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of godly fear? then grow in the knowledge of the new covenant, for that is indeed the girdle of our reins, and the strength of our souls...

2. As the heart in general, so the will in special. That chief and great faculty of the soul is the principle that is acted by this fear. The will, which way that goes, all goes...

Prayer is an ordinance of God, in which a man draws very near to God; and therefore it calleth for so much the more of the assistance of the grace of God to help a soul to pray...

1. It respecteth God—He hath ‘made peace by the blood of his cross’; that is, he hath made peace for us with God, having appeased the rigour of his law, and satisfied justice fo...

(3.) Consider, also, that some comfortable pledges of his love thou hast already received, namely, as to feel the sweetness of his love, as to see the light of his countenance,...

Now though these sacrifices were offered, yet they were not offered to the end they should make the comers to, or offerers thereof, perfect; but the things were to represent to...

Answer. No man may teach God knowledge; he knoweth best how to deliver his mind in such words and terms as best agree with his eternal wisdom, and the consciences of those that...

Cunning men will, if they can, retain such an one to be their Advocate, who has a particular quarrel against their adversary; for thus, think they, he that is such, will not onl...

Third. The third thing that is to be observed, if we would not be under the Law, or do things in a legal spirit, is this—to have a care that we do none of the works of the holy...

184. Now, also, the tempter began afresh to mock my soul another way, saying that Christ, indeed, did pity my case, and was sorry for my loss; but forasmuch as I had sinned and...

Zaccheus the publican, the chief of the publicans, one that had made himself the richer by wronging of others; the Lord at that time singled him out from all the rest of his bro...

1. Because faith, having laid hold upon Christ, hath found him ‘in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (Col 2:3). In him therefore it finds and sees those he...

2. As it manifesteth matter of joy and rejoicing, so it causeth much fruitfulness in all holiness and godliness. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to a...

Answ. I shall speak briefly in answer hereunto as followeth—First, then, that man that doth take up any of the ordinances of God—namely, as prayer, baptism, breaking of bread, r...

Could we but come to an understanding of things done in heaven and hell, as we understand how things are done in this world, we should be strangely amazed to see how the change...

Again; if at any time you do find in Scripture that the Covenant of Works is spoken of as the first covenant that was manifested, and so before the second covenant, yet you must...

6. But what! were they silent? did they say, did they do nothing while they sat before the throne? Yes, they were appointed to be singers there. This was signified by the four a...

286. If any of those who were awakened by my ministry did after that fall back, as sometimes too many did, I can truly say their loss hath been more to me than if one of my own...

I speak by experience. I was one of these lousy ones, one of these great sin-breeders; I infected all the youth of the town where I was born, with all manner of youthful vanitie...

(1.) The body will be the vessel to hold the tormented soul in; this will be something; therefore man, damned man, is called a vessel of wrath, a vessel, and that in both body a...

THIRD. There are those that indeed are righteous when compared with others: ‘I came not to call the righteous’; ‘for scarcely for a righteous man will one die,’ and the like, ar...

He is Captain-general of all the forces that God hath in heaven and earth, the King and Commander of his people (ch. 9:25, 28). He is Lord of all, and made “head over all things...

250. I should in these days, often in my greatest agonies, even flounce towards the promise, as the horses do towards sound ground that yet stick in the mire, concluding, though...

4. This word, shall come, engageth Christ to communicate all manner of grace to those thus given him to make them effectually to come to him. “They shall come;” that is, not if...

Let me give you a parable:—There was a certain man that had committed treason against his king; but forasmuch as the king had compassion upon him, he sent him, by the hand of a...

In displaying the feelings and experience of the inquiring, alarmed, quickened sinner, we are instructed by a continual illustration of the Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinne...

But to pass this digression, and to come to my argument, namely, that men are justified from the curse of the law, before God, while sinners in themselves; this is evident by wh...

In this manner of language, he personates his soul with the souls of the rest that are saved; and thus to do, is common with the apostles, as will be easily discerned by them th...

I shall conclude this discourse with this word of advice to all God’s people. 1. Believe that as sure as you are in the way of God you must meet with temptations. 2. The first d...

Answ. Set the case, thou couldst walk like an angel of God; set the case, thou couldst fulfill the whole law, and live from this day to thy life’s end without sinning in thought...

Do you think, I say, that the Lord Jesus did not think before he spake? He speaks all in righteousness, and therefore by his word we are to judge how mighty he is to save (Isa 6...

Third. Is Christ Jesus the redemption; and, as such, the very door and inlet into all God’s mercies? Christian man, look well to thyself, that thou goest no whither, and dost no...

As they are called a multitude, so they are called mercies manifold. There is no single flower in God’s gospel-garden, they are all double and treble; there is a wheel within a...

When I say, justification will stand with imperfection, I do not mean that it will allow, countenance, or approve thereof; but I mean there is no necessity of our perfection, of...

‘For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is lai...

So that when he saith, “Strive to enter in,” it is as if he should say, Blessed are they that shall be admitted another day to enter into the kingdom of heaven; but they that sh...

Had there been a contrivance in heaven about the salvation of sinners on earth, yet if the result of that contrivance had been that we should be saved by our own good deeds, it...

[27] How tenderly does the Psalmist exhibit the love of God to his chosen under this figure, ‘Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.’ He will never leave nor forsake them;...

Join to all this, his everlasting intercession for us, and the effectual management thereof with God for us; and, withal, the infinite number of times that we by sin provoke him...

(1.) Art thou jogged, and shaken, and molested at the hearing of the Word? Is thy conscience awakened and convinced then, that thou art at present in a perishing state, and that...

USE SIXTH, I come, in the next place, to a use of terror, and so I shall conclude. Is it so? is the soul such an excellent thing, and is the loss thereof so unspeakably great? T...

1. They will put on all the confidence they can, they will trick and trim up their profession, and adorn it with what bravery they can. Thus the foolish virgins sought to enter...

And as Paul speaketh here as a minister, so he speaketh after the same manner also as he is a believer, saying, ‘I am not ashamed’ of this gospel, ‘for I know whom I have believ...

It is, as I also hinted before, the nature of godly fear to be very much putting the soul upon the inquiry which is, and which is not, the thing approved of God, and accordingly...

Consider, besides this, what a privilege thou shalt have at the Day of Judgment above thousands, if thou do in deed and in truth close in with this Jesus and accept of Him; for...

In the beginning of this chapter you find these two persons reasoning with the serpent, the effect of which discourse was, they take of the forbidden fruit, and so break the com...

After all their abusings of wise men, and prophets, God sent unto them John Baptist, to reduce them, and then his Son, to redeem them; but they would be neither reduced nor rede...

But such as know the power of his anger will have a deep awe of God upon their hearts, and, observing him in all his motions, will have the greatest apprehensions of his displea...

Second. There is matter of law to be objected, and that both against God and us; at least, there seems to be so, because of the sanction that God has put upon the law, and also...

4. It is partly by the virtue of Christ’s intercession that the elect are brought in. There are many that are to come to Christ which are not yet brought in to Christ: and it is...

328. Poor child, thought I, what sorrow art thou like to have for thy portion in this world? Thou must be beaten, must beg, suffer hunger, cold, nakedness, and a thousand calami...

Here then is the mercy with which Israel is concerned, and which is with God as an encouragement to them that should hope, to hope in him. It is mercy from everlasting; it is me...

Answer. First, surrender up thy soul unto God, by Christ, and choose Christ to be the chief Shepherd of thy soul; and He will direct thee to His shepherds, and He will, of His m...

When he saith he is able to save, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession, he addeth saving to saving; saving by his life to saving by his death; saving by his improving of h...

Answ. If I were to point out one that was under the power of the devil, and going post-haste to Hell, for my life I would look no farther for such a man than to him that would m...

4. This is the way to maintain always the answer, the echoing answer of a good conscience in thy own soul. Godliness is of great use in this way; for the man that hath a good co...

This is true in nature, and so it is in grace; wherefore, notwithstanding what was said under the first head, it doth not follow, that if I be a child I must certainly know it,...

22 We must not for a moment imagine that Bunyan was afraid of temporal consequences, which prevents his enlarging upon this part of his subject. His contemptuous answer to Fowle...

[SECOND.] This being so, the second position is also manifest—namely, that the righteousness by which we stand just from the curse, before God, is only inherent in Jesus Christ....

To conclude. One word also to you that are neglecters of Jesus Christ: ‘How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?’ Here then, we may see how we ought to judge of all...

He died—‘The wages of sin is death’ (Rom 6:23). Now if death be the wages of sin, and that be true that Christ did die and not sin, either the course of justice is perverted, or...

USE SIXTH. Lastly, If a broken heart be a thing of so great esteem with God as has been said, and if duties cannot be rightly performed by a heart that has not been broken, then...

Second. The second thing considered in the words is this, that to be ready might be understood with respect to the blessed apostle’s mind, that was graciously brought over into...

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 t...

39. No Christian minister ever dwelt more richly on the ‘Saint’s Knowledge of Christ’s Love’ than Bunyan. See vol. ii. p. 1. It was the result of this soul-harrowing experience....

When angels and men had sinned, how did they fall and crumble before the anger of God! they had not power to withstand the terror, nor could there be worth found in their person...

(3.) The nature of the best of worldly things, if hankered after, is to deaden the spirit (Rom 8:6,7), to estrange the heart from God, to pierce thee through with many sorrows,...

Second, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to the biggest sinners, to the Jerusalem sinners? Then, by this also, you must learn to judge of the sufficien...

[15] Alas! how few attain to this most blessed state. To delight so in the Word—to make it so much our daily study, and the object of our meditations at night, as to have “its v...

You may well remember that from these words I did observe these two great truths of the Lord—FIRST, That there are some in Gospel times that are under the law, or Covenant of Wo...

1. A sense of the want of mercy, by reason of the danger of sin. The soul, I say, feels, and from feeling sighs, groans, and breaks at the heart. For right prayer bubbleth out o...

And as he acted thus diversely in the work of our redemption, even so he also doth in the execution of his Advocate’s office. When he pleadeth with God, he pleadeth so; and when...

7. Coming soul, the Jesus that thou art coming to, is full of might and terribleness for thy advantage; he can suppress all thine enemies; he is the Prince of the kings of the e...

7. There is, in the next place, the libertine—he that pretendeth to be against forms and duties, as things that gender to bondage, neglecting the order of God. This man pretends...

Reply. O no; neither would I do it for a thousand worlds. O, methinks they make me sometimes tremble to think of them. But how and if I should delight in them before I am aware?

8. Further, as the soul is thus curious about arts and sciences, and about every excellent thing of this life, so it is capable of having to do with invisibles, with angels, goo...

Great sinners are like the dry wood, or like great candles, which burn best and shine with biggest light. I lay not this down, as I did those reasons before, to show, that when...

Answ. It may be thou hast concluded on this long ago, thinking thou shouldst not be able to hold out any longer; no, not a year, a month, or a week; nay, it may be, not so long....

2. As they are compared to a handful, so they are compared to a lily among the thorns, which is rare, and not so commonly seen: “As the lily among thorns,” saith Christ, “so is...

But, further, when the soul has thus far, by its wickedness, pursued the motion of sin to bring it into action, then to the last thing; to wit, to endeavours, to take the opport...

Besides, it is well known that Satan, as to us, is the original cause of those very crimes for which he accuses us at the bar of God’s tribunal. Not to say anything of how he co...

Before we bid a final farewell to Bunyan’s extraordinary mental struggles with unbelief, it may be well to indulge in a few sober reflections. Are the narratives of these mighty...

Further, by telling of my brother that he hath an Advocate, I put things into his mind that he has not known, or do bring them into remembrance which he has forgotten-to wit, th...

18 How awfully inconceivable is that eternal death that never dieth; that final end that never endeth—an immortal death—a soul-murdering life—ever dying, but never dead; were th...

(1.) He is there a priest for ever, intercepting betwixt the Divine presence and all that hate us, by his blood; sin, Satan, death, hell, the law, the grave, or the like, cannot...

The death of Christ giveth us the best discovery of ourselves, in what condition we were, in that nothing could help us but that; and the most clear discovery of the dreadful na...

I shall pass by what befell between these two assizes, how I had, by my jailer, some liberty granted me, more than at the first, and how I followed my wonted course of preaching...

It may occasion surprise to some, that a young man of such extraordinary powers of mind, should have indulged the thought of working a miracle to settle or confirm his doubts; b...

Bunyan was fond of athletic sports, bell-ringing, and dancing; and in these he had indulged, so far as his worldly calling allowed. Charles I, whether to promote Popery—to diver...

Again; when I have been loaden with sin, and [I cannot stand here to tell thee of particular temptations]. pestered with several temptations, and in a very sad manner, then have...

If all these things be true, what follows but a demonstration of the accursed condition of those among the religious in these nations whose notions put them far off from Jesus,...

Seventh. The knowledge and faith of this redemption prepareth man to a holy life. By a holy life, I mean a life according to the moral law, flowing from a spirit of thankfulness...

5. It is also necessary that he that cometh to God by the Lord Jesus, should know what death is, and the uncertainty of its approaches upon us. Death is, as I may call it, the f...

326. The chair is engraved above, and it will be seen that it has suffered some little dilapidation since the last published engraving of it. The legs have been cut down to suit...

MEMOIR OF JOHN BUNYAN GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS A RELATON OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED THE GREATNESS OF THE SOUL THE WORK OF J...

This severe conflict lasted for about a year. He describes his feelings at times as resembling the frightful pangs of one broken on the wheel. The sources of his misery were fea...

Cobb. Saith he, I come to tell you that it is desired you would submit yourself to the laws of the land, or else at the next sessions it will go worse with you, even to be sent...

Mr. Gifford, in this preface, after strongly recommending the work, speaks of the author in the most respectful and affectionate terms, showing that his zeal, and energy, and gr...

IN WHICH IS ADDED, AN ANSWER TO THOSE GRAND OBJECTIONS THAT LIE IN THE WAY OF THE THEM THAT WOULD BELIEVE: FOR THE COMFORT OF THEM THAT FEAR THEY HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE HOLY GH...

Use Second. Is it so? Is coming to Jesus Christ by the gift, promise, and drawing of the Father? Then let saints here learn to ascribe their coming to Christ to the gift, promis...

41 This is the proper test for a perplexed soul, when troubled about his election. If I love Christ, and am desirous to obey him, it is because he first loved me; and this is th...

[8] In Bunyan’s days, persecution for conscience sake was more extensive under the Protestant Church of England than it was even in the fiery days of Mary. Tens of thousands fle...

1. How many thousands rush into the presence of God with unholy, thoughtless familiarity, by repeating the form called the Lord’s prayer. His infinite holiness should make us tr...

174. Nehemiah Coxe is said to have been a descendant from Dr. Richard Coxe, preceptor to Edward VI, and Dean of Oxford. He fled from persecution under Mary, was a troubler of hi...

After having lain in prison about seven weeks, the session was held at Bedford, for the county; and Bunyan was placed at the bar, indicted for devilishly and perniciously abstai...

Take this conclusion from the whole: no thanks are accepted of God that come not to him in the name of his Son; his Son must have the glory of conveying our thanks to God, becau...

The time was drawing near when, in the midst of his usefulness, and with little warning, he was to be summoned to his eternal rest. He had been seriously attacked with that dang...

The carping criticisms of Mr. Dunlop, in his History of Fiction, and of an author in the Penny Encyclopedia, are scarcely worth notice. The complaint is, want of benevolence in...

1. This grace is called “the beginning of knowledge,” because by the first gracious discovery of God to the soul, this grace is begot: and again, because the first time that the...

Third. There are the desires of the cold formal professor; the desires, I say, of him whose religion lies in a few of the shells of religion; even as the foolish virgins who wer...

My determination in writing this memoir has been to follow the scriptural example, by fairly recording every defect discoverable in Bunyan’s character; but what were considered...

3. When God gives to his the grant of their desires, he doth it so as may be best for our advantage; now there are times wherein the giving of grace may be best to our advantage...

In the interpreter’s house he is ‘led into a chamber where there was one rising out of bed, and as he put on his raiment he shook and trembled. Then said Christian, Why doth thi...

Bunyan, who had secured the confidence and esteem of his jailer, now found his prison more like a lodging-house, and enjoyed great privileges. He frequently, if not regularly, a...

Second, But besides this, there is redemption by power, and that respecteth that, or those things, unto which we become not legally indebted by our transgression. There was that...

Sixth. The necessity of the advocateship of Jesus Christ for us further appears in this-to wit, for that our evidences, which declare that we have a right to the eternal inherit...

2. They may attain to a great deal of honour in the said company of professors, that which may be accounted honour, insomuch that they may be put in trust with church affairs, a...

Now, concerning your admission of members, I shall leave you to the Lord for counsel, who hath hitherto been with you; only thus much I think expedient to stir up your remembran...

Bunyan was by no means a latitudinarian. No one felt greater decision than he did for the truths of our holy faith. When his Lord’s design in Christianity was, as he thought, pe...

The men who arraign their fellows before any standard of orthodoxy, or claim the right of dictating forms of belief or modes of worship under pains or penalties, are guilty of a...

The employment of his time in earning a maintenance for his family, and his constant engagements to preach, interfered with the proper fulfillment of his duties as a deacon of t...

Bunyan had formed his ideas of prayer from heartfelt experience; it is the cry of the burthened, sinking sinner, ‘Lord save us, we perish’; or adoration rising from the heart to...

Man is naturally led to seek the society of his fellow-men. His personal progress, and the great interests of civilization, depend upon the nature of his friendly intercourse an...