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

Put no trust in man, but in thy broken spirit seek the blessing of Christ, that he may pardon thy sins.—Ed.

[8] The fear of the wicked arises from a corrupt, sinful, self-condemning conscience; they fear God as an angry judge, and therefore consider him as their enemy. As they love and will not part with their sins, so they are in continual dread of punishment.—Mason.

[9] “To-elbow all his days in his lord’s vineyard”; to sit or stand idly resting upon his elbows, instead of labouring in the vineyard.

“A sovereign shame so elbows him.”—King Lear, Act iv, Scene 3.—Ed.

[10] “Gear”; apparel, furniture, implements. “The apostles were not fixed in their residence, but were ready in their gears to move whither they were called.”—Barrow.—Ed.

[11] God does not limit himself as to his mode of calling poor sinners. The three thousand he convinced at one hour, and they immediately made a profession, but Bunyan was for years in a state of alarming uncertainty; some are driven by fiery terrors, others by a still small voice. Reader, our anxious inquiry should be, Have we entered in by Christ the gate? Are our fruits meet for repentance? Let no one vaunt of his experience, because he go well bedaubed with the dirt of the slough. Every soul that enters the gate is equally a miracle of grace.—Ed.

[12] This is remarkably instanced in Bunyan’s Grace Abounding.—Ed.

[13] Those who are adopted into the family of heaven are “justified from all things”; being delivered from sin, the curse, and wrath, “there is now no condemnation for them”; and trusting to Jesus’

precious blood of pardon, to his righteousness for acceptance, and to his grace for sanctification, they are, by the indwelling of the Spirit which adopted them, possessed of that love which casteth out fear, and rejoiceth in hope of the glory of God. And to those who, through their manifold infirmities and departures, are often beset with unbelieving fears, the Lord says, for their encouragement, “Fear thou not, for I am with thee; I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isa 41:10).—Mason.

[14] Effectual grace in the soul is accompanied by doubts and fears, owing to the remains of indwelling corruption; hence arises a continual warfare. Believer, how needful is it ever to retain your confidence and assurance of your Lord’s love to you! Rely on his faithfulness, persevere steadfastly in the way of duty, looking to Jesus, and living upon his fulness.—Mason. How does all this reasoning remind us of Bunyan’s own experience, recorded in his Grace Abounding; he was not ignorant of Satan’s devices.—Ed.

[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 very form engraven upon the face of our souls.” Happy is the man that is in such a case. O my soul, why is it not thy case?—Ed.

[16] The filial fear of God is most prevalent when the heart is impressed with a lively sense of the love of God manifested in Christ. As a dutiful and obedient child fears to offend an affectionate parent, or as a person of grateful heart would be extremely careful not to grieve a kind and bountiful friend, who is continually loading him with favours and promoting his true happiness; so, and much more, will the gracious soul be afraid of displeasing the Lord, his bountiful and unwearied benefactor, who is crowning him with loving kindness and tender mercies.—Mason.

[17] It is no new thing for those who are in public places, to seek themselves more than the public welfare; nay, and to serve themselves by the public loss.—Henry.

[18] How does this remind us of the character of By-ends in the “Pilgrim’s Progress” !—Ed.

[19] So Ainsworth understands, p. 134, vol. 10. He renders it, “lurking lions, which are lusty, strong-toothed, fierce, roaring, and ravenous. And hereby,” says he, “may be meant the rich and mighty of the world, whom God often bringeth to misery.” “They that are ravenous, and prey on all about them, shall want, but the meek shall inherit the earth; they shall not want who, with quiet obedience, work and mind their own business; plain-hearted Jacob has pottage enough, when Esau, the cunning hunter, is ready to perish.”

Henry.—Ed.

[20] “The conduct of angels” means not merely their guiding pilgrims in the way, but also, in a military sense, a guard, or what is now called a convoy.—Ed.

[21] See margin, Genesis 41:43, and 40:8.—Ed.

[22] To publish by sound of trumpet, to trumpet good tidings. In Bunyan’s time it was never used ironically.—Ed.

[23] This if from the Bible, and not from the inferior version in the Book of Common Prayer, commonly called the reading Psalms.—Ed.

[24] Sternhold and Hopkin’s edit. 1635.—The propriety of singing in public worship was strongly debated by some of the Nonconformists.

There were very weighty reasons, in persecuting times, for meetings being held as quietly as possible. The Quakers to this day do not admit singing in their assemblies. The introduction of this psalm proves that Bunyan was acquainted with the “singing” Psalms, and, in all probability, practised singing in public worship. When James I. improved this version for church use, called the Psalms of KING David, translated by KING James, his last four lines are—

Thou of Jerusalem shalt see

While as thou liv’st the good,

Thou shalt thy children’s children see, And peace on Israel’s brood.

How blessed are we in our day with the poetry of Watts, Wesley, and a host of others, who have supplied the church with beautiful soul-inspiring compositions, without fear to restrain us in using them.—Ed.

[25] No one can charge Bunyan with a superstitious notion of dreams, whether asleep or as if asleep. Such a mode of interpretation as he recommends is both rational and scriptural. To dream awake is thus explained—“They dream on in a course of reading without digesting.”—Locke.—Ed.

[26] Whoever thou art, beseech the Lord to weigh thee in the balances of the sanctuary. No fear of God—no grace in the soul.

Of this class is the proud, the covetous, the glutton, the liar, the apostate, the perverter of God’s people from the right way; obstinate and incorrigible backsliders; those who neither mourn nor sigh for the wickedness of the land; they that prefer their own fancies, dreams, frames, and feelings, to the Word of God; swearers, adulterers, perjured persons, and oppressors of the poor; they that insult the godly, and rejoice at their sufferings; they that have no love, gratitude, nor sense of duty to God, as the fountain of their unmerited mercies. O reader, give God no rest until, by his Word and Spirit, he imparts to thee this holy fear as the earnest of glory hereafter; without it you are perishing.—Mason.—Ed.

[27] “Snaffle”; a loose bridle with a curb. “To snaffle”; to be easily led.

“The third o’ the’ world is yours, which with a snaffle, You may pace easy, but not such a wise.”

Antony and Cleopatra.—Ed.

[28] How familiar but striking an illustration. Reader, look well to the mainspring, and see also that the wheels are not clogged.

We ought to be living epistles, known and read of all men.—Ed.

[29] “A royster”; a violent, riotous, blustering, turbulent, fellow—a species of men now much out of date, as are jails and gibbets, sword and burning stake. How great and true that courage which could look at, and expect, such trials, without shrinking, when they were threatened as a reward for love to Christ and holy obedience to his gospel!—Ed.

[30] This is a very strong and striking expression. “To soak,”

means to imbibe as much as we can contain; and as to the influence of godly fear, happy shall we be in proportion as we are enabled to follow Bunyan’s advice.—Ed.

[31] The words, “he made them houses,” we humbly suggest, may not only mean that these God-fearing women had safe dwelling-places, but, in a more extensive sense, God made them the heads of honourable families, see 1 Samuel 2:35; 2 Samuel 7:11, 13, 27, 29; 1 Kings 2:24, 11:28. So David’s prayer was, “Let my house be established before thee; thou, O my God, wilt build me an house” (1 Chron 17:24,25).—Ed.

[32] Royal patents, in Bunyan’s time, were lucrative but most oppressive, conferring upon favourites, or their nominees, an exclusive right to deal in any article of manufacture. But the patent to God’s fearers, to trust in him when involved in darkness and distress, is a blessed privilege, injurious to none.—Ed.

[33] “Grabbling”; sprawling along, drawing the body, by the hands, through a small aperture in a mine.—Ed.

[34] “Tines”; from the Saxon; the teeth or spikes in the rowel of a spur.—Ed.

[35] “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord.” Blessedness shall attend him all the way to heaven, in proportion as that fear abounds. It is a heaven on earth to live in the constant fear of God—to have a reverential awe and fear of his majesty immovably fixed and implanted in the soul. The grace of fear has an eminent influence in a Christian’s sanctification; it is a powerful restraint from sin. A holy fear of God, and a humble fear of ourselves, which are alike of Divine operation, will preserve us from sin and engage us to obedience. God will be our protector and instructor, our guide and our everlasting deliverer from all evil. Let us not rest satisfied with the greatest attainments short of “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”—Mason.

[36] By the goats we are to understand the hypocrites and the finally impenitent, who will depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; see Matthew 25:32, 33-41.—Ed.

***

THE DOCTRINE

OF

THE LAW AND GRACE UNFOLDED;

OR,

A DISCOURSE TOUCHING THE LAW AND GRACE; THE NATURE OF THE ONE, AND

THE NATURE OF THE OTHER; SHOWING WHAT THEY ARE, AS THEY ARE THE

TWO COVENANTS; AND LIKEWISE, WHO THEY BE, AND WHAT THEIR CONDITIONS

ARE, THAT BE UNDER EITHER OF THESE TWO COVENANTS: Wherein, for the better understanding of the reader, there are several questions answered touching the law and grace, very easy to be read, and as easy to be understood, by those that are the sons of wisdom, the children of the second covenant.

“For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God” (Heb 7:19).

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom 3:28).

“To him [therefore] that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness”

(Rom 4:5).

ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.

It is difficult to understand those peculiar trials which called forth the mighty energies of Bunyan’s mind, unless we are acquainted with the times in which he lived. The trammels of statecraft and priestcraft had been suddenly removed from religion, and men were left to form their own opinions as to rites and ceremonies. In this state of abrupt liberty, some wild enthusiasts ran into singular errors; and Bunyan’s first work on “Gospel Truths” was published to correct them. Then followed that alarm to thoughtless souls—“A Few Sighs from Hell”; and, in 1659, as a further declaration of the most important truths of revelation, this work on the two covenants was sent forth to chastise error, and comfort the saints of God.

It was published many times during the author’s life; and