TALK. That is it that I said; for to talk of such things is most
profitable; for by so doing, a man may get knowledge of many things;
as of the vanity of earthly things, and the benefit of things above.
Thus, in general, but more particularly by this, a man may learn
the necessity of the new birth, the insufficiency of our works,
the need of Christ's righteousness, &c. Besides, by this a man
may learn, by talk, what it is to repent, to believe, to pray,
to suffer, or the like; by this also a man may learn what are the
great promises and consolations of the gospel, to his own comfort.
Further, by this a man may learn to refute false opinions, to
vindicate the truth, and also to instruct the ignorant.
FAITH. All this is true, and glad am I to hear these things from
you.
TALK. Alas! the want of this is the cause why so few understand
the need of faith, and the necessity of a work of grace in their
soul, in order to eternal life; but ignorantly live in the works
of the law, by which a man can by no means obtain the kingdom of
heaven.
{188} FAITH. But, by your leave, heavenly knowledge of these is the
gift of God; no man attaineth to them by human industry, or only
by the talk of them.
TALK. All this I know very well; for a man can receive nothing,
except it be given him from Heaven; all is of grace, not of works.
I could give you a hundred scriptures for the confirmation of this.
FAITH. Well, then, said Faithful, what is that one thing that we
shall at this time found our discourse upon?
TALK. What you will. I will talk of things heavenly, or things
earthly; things moral, or things evangelical; things sacred, or
things profane; things past, or things to come; things foreign, or
things at home; things more essential, or things circumstantial;
provided that all be done to our profit.
{189} FAITH. Now did Faithful begin to wonder; and stepping to
Christian, (for he walked all this while by himself), he said to
him, (but softly), What a brave companion have we got! Surely this
man will make a very excellent pilgrim.
CHR. At this Christian modestly smiled, and said, This man, with
whom you are so taken, will beguile, with that tongue of his, twenty
of them that know him not.
FAITH. Do you know him, then?
{190} CHR. Know him! Yes, better than he knows himself.
FAITH. Pray, what is he?
CHR. His name is Talkative; he dwelleth in our town. I wonder that
you should be a stranger to him, only I consider that our town is
large.
FAITH. Whose son is he? And whereabout does he dwell?
CHR. He is the son of one Say-well; he dwelt in Prating Row; and is
known of all that are acquainted with him, by the name of Talkative
in Prating Row; and notwithstanding his fine tongue, he is but a
sorry fellow.
{191} FAITH. Well, he seems to be a very pretty man.
CHR. That is, to them who have not thorough acquaintance with him;
for he is best abroad; near home, he is ugly enough. Your saying
that he is a pretty man, brings to my mind what I have observed in
the work of the painter, whose pictures show best at a distance,
but, very near, more unpleasing.
{192} FAITH. But I am ready to think you do but jest, because you
smiled.
CHR. God forbid that I should jest (although I smiled) in this
matter, or that I should accuse any falsely! I will give you
a further discovery of him. This man is for any company, and for
any talk; as he talketh now with you, so will he talk when he is on
the ale-bench; and the more drink he hath in his crown, the more
of these things he hath in his mouth; religion hath no place in his
heart, or house, or conversation; all he hath lieth in his tongue,
and his religion is, to make a noise therewith.
{193} FAITH. Say you so! then am I in this man greatly deceived.
CHR. Deceived! you may be sure of it; remember the proverb, "They
say and do not." [Matt. 23:3] But the kingdom of God is not in
word, but in Power. [1 Cor 4:20] He talketh of prayer, of repentance,
of faith, and of the new birth; but he knows but only to talk of
them. I have been in his family, and have observed him both at
home and abroad; and I know what I say of him is the truth. His
house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is of savour.
There is there neither prayer nor sign of repentance for sin; yea,
the brute in his kind serves God far better than he. He is the
very stain, reproach, and shame of religion, to all that know him;
it can hardly have a good word in all that end of the town where
he dwells, through him. [Rom. 2:24,25] Thus say the common people
that know him, A saint abroad, and a devil at home. His poor
family finds it so; he is such a churl, such a railer at and so
unreasonable with his servants, that they neither know how to do
for or speak to him. Men that have any dealings with him say it is
better to deal with a Turk than with him; for fairer dealing they
shall have at their hands. This Talkative (if it be possible) will
go beyond them, defraud, beguile, and overreach them. Besides, he
brings up his sons to follow his steps; and if he findeth in any of
them a foolish timorousness, (for so he calls the first appearance
of a tender conscience,) he calls them fools and blockheads, and by
no means will employ them in much, or speak to their commendations
before others. For my part, I am of opinion, that he has, by his
wicked life, caused many to stumble and fall; and will be, if God
prevent not, the ruin of many more.
{194} FAITH. Well, my brother, I am bound to believe you; not only
because you say you know him, but also because, like a Christian,
you make your reports of men. For I cannot think that you speak
these things of ill-will, but because it is even so as you say.
CHR. Had I known him no more than you, I might perhaps have thought
of him, as, at the first, you did; yea, had he received this report
at their hands only that are enemies to religion, I should have
thought it had been a slander,--a lot that often falls from bad
men's mouths upon good men's names and professions; but all these
things, yea, and a great many more as bad, of my own knowledge,
I can prove him guilty of. Besides, good men are ashamed of him;
they can neither call him brother, nor friend; the very naming of
him among them makes them blush, if they know him.
{195} FAITH. Well, I see that saying and doing are two things, and
hereafter I shall better observe this distinction.
CHR. They are two things, indeed, and are as diverse as are the
soul and the body; for as the body without the soul is but a dead
carcass, so saying, if it be alone, is but a dead carcass also.
The soul of religion is the practical part: "Pure religion
and undefiled, before God and the Father, is this, To visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world." [James 1:27; see vv. 22-26] This
Talkative is not aware of; he thinks that hearing and saying will
make a good Christian, and thus he deceiveth his own soul. Hearing
is but as the sowing of the seed; talking is not sufficient to
prove that fruit is indeed in the heart and life; and let us assure
ourselves, that at the day of doom men shall be judged according
to their fruits. [Matt. 13, 25] It will not be said then, Did you
believe? but, Were you doers, or talkers only? and accordingly
shall they be judged. The end of the world is compared to our
harvest; and you know men at harvest regard nothing but fruit.
Not that anything can be accepted that is not of faith, but I speak
this to show you how insignificant the profession of Talkative will
be at that day.
{196} FAITH. This brings to my mind that of Moses, by which he
describeth the beast that is clean. [Lev. 11:3-7; Deut. 14:6-8]
He is such a one that parteth the hoof and cheweth the cud; not
that parteth the hoof only, or that cheweth the cud only. The
hare cheweth the cud, but yet is unclean, because he parteth not
the hoof. And this truly resembleth Talkative; he cheweth the cud,
he seeketh knowledge, he cheweth upon the word; but he divideth
not the hoof, he parteth not with the way of sinners; but, as the
hare, he retaineth the foot of a dog or bear, and therefore he is
unclean.
CHR. You have spoken, for aught I know, the true gospel sense
of those texts. And I will add another thing: Paul calleth some
men, yea, and those great talkers, too, sounding brass and tinkling
cymbals; that is, as he expounds them in another place, things
without life, giving sound. [1 Cor. 13:1-3; 14:7] Things without
life, that is, without the true faith and grace of the gospel;
and consequently, things that shall never be placed in the kingdom
of heaven among those that are the children of life; though their
sound, by their talk, be as if it were the tongue or voice of an
angel.
FAITH. Well, I was not so fond of his company at first, but I am
as sick of it now. What shall we do to be rid of him?
CHR. Take my advice, and do as I bid you, and you shall find that
he will soon be sick of your company too, except God shall touch
his heart, and turn it.
FAITH. What would you have me to do?
CHR. Why, go to him, and enter into some serious discourse about
the power of religion; and ask him plainly (when he has approved
of it, for that he will) whether this thing be set up in his heart,
house, or conversation.
{197} FAITH. Then Faithful stepped forward again, and said to
Talkative, Come, what cheer? How is it now?
TALK. Thank you, well. I thought we should have had a great deal
of talk by this time.
{198} FAITH. Well, if you will, we will fall to it now; and since
you left it with me to state the question, let it be this: How doth
the saving grace of God discover itself when it is in the heart of
man?