The Works of John Bunyan, vol 1 by John Bunyan (books to read to improve english .TXT) 📕

Second. God renewed this promise to Abraham, and there tells 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 of 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; him 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).

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, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’ This Matthew expounds of 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 answereth 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 an 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 delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor 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 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 threescore 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. He was promised by Zechariah 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. He was promised by Malachi under the name of ‘the Lord, and the messenger of the covenant’—‘Behold, I will send my messenger, and 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 Messias to come, prophetical promises, 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 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.

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 Mediator, and as builder of the tabernacle (Heb 3:2,3).

Aaron was his type as he was high-priest, and so was 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 giving 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 his building the temple, and in 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 types. To 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 bespake one accursed (Jer 29:22; Gal 3:13). In that it was to be eaten—‘Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh 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 type of the clean sepulchre 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 eat 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 out 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 were come out of Egypt; Christ gives drink to them that 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 begetteth and maintaineth faith in the heart.

Jacob had a believing remembrance when he said,