murder, &c.
Answ. “All manner of sins and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men,
wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme.—Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon” (Matt 12:31; Mark 3:28; Isa 55:7,8).
3. But I have a stout and rebellious heart, a heart that is far from
good.
Answ. “Hearken unto me,” saith God, “ye stout-hearted, that are far
from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness”; that is, the
righteousness of Christ, by which stout-hearted sinners are justified,
though ungodly (Isa 46:12,13; Phil 3:7,8; Rev 4:5).
4. But I have a heart as hard as any stone.
Answ. “A new heart also will I give you,” says God, “and a new spirit
will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh” (Eze 36:26).
5. But I am as blind as a beetle; I cannot understand anything of the
gospel.
Answ. “I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; I will lead
them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light
before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto
them, and not forsake them” (Isa 42:16).
6. But my heart will not be affected with the sufferings and blood of
Christ.
Answ. “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as
one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as
one that is in bitterness for his first-born” (Zech 12:10).
7. But though I see what is like to become of me if I find not Christ,
yet my spirit, while I am thus, will be running after vanity,
foolishness, uncleanness, wickedness.
Answ. “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be
clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse
you” (Eze 36:25).
8. But I cannot believe in Christ.
Answ. But God hath promised to make thee believe. “I will also leave in
the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in
the name of the Lord.” And again, “There shall be a root of Jesse, and
he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the
Gentiles trust” (Zeph 3:12; Rom 15:12).
9. But I cannot pray to God for mercy.
Answ. But God hath graciously promised a spirit of prayer—“Yea, many
people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in
Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.—They shall call on my name, and
I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The
Lord is my God” (Zech 8:22; 12:10; 13:9).
10. But I cannot repent. Answ. “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus,
whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right
hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel,
and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:30,31).
Thus might I enlarge, for the holy Bible is full of this exceeding
grace of God. O these words, “I will” and “you shall”! they are the
language of a gracious God; they are promises by which our God has
engaged himself to do that for poor sinners which would else be left
undone for ever.
THE THIRD USE.
Are they that are saved, saved by grace? Then let Christians labour to
advance God’s grace. FIRST. In heart. SECOND. In life.
FIRST. In heart; and that in this manner—
First. Believe in God’s mercy through Jesus Christ, and so advance the
grace of God; I mean, venture heartily, venture confidently, for there
is a sufficiency in the grace of God. Abraham magnified the grace of
God when “he considered not his own body now dead,—neither yet the
deadness of Sarah’s womb: he staggered not at the promise of God
through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God” (Rom
4:19,20).
Second. Advance it by heightening of it in thy thoughts. Have always
good and great thoughts of the grace of God; narrow and slender
thoughts of it are a great disparagement to it.
And to help thee in this matter, consider—1. This grace is compared to
a sea—“And thou will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea”
(Micah 7:19). Now a sea can never be filled by casting into it. 23
2. This grace is compared to a fountain, to an open fountain—“In that
day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.” Now a fountain
can never be drawn dry (Zech 12:1). 3. The Psalmist cries out
concerning the grace and mercy of God, “It endureth for ever”; he says
so twenty-six times in one psalm. Surely he saw a great deal in it,
surely he was taken a great deal with it (Psa 136). 4. Paul says the
God of all grace can do more than “we ask or think” (Eph 3:20). 5.
Therefore as God’s Word says, so thou shouldst conclude of the grace of
God.
Third. Come boldly to the throne of grace by hearty prayer; for this is
the way also to magnify the grace of God. This is the apostle’s
exhortation, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb
4:16). See here a little, and wonder.
We have been all this while discoursing of the grace of God; and now we
are come to his throne, as Job says, “even to his seat”; and behold,
“that is a throne of grace.” O, when a God of grace is upon a throne of
grace, and a poor sinner stands by and begs for grace, and that in the
name of a gracious Christ, in and by the help of the Spirit of grace,
can it be otherwise but such a sinner must obtain mercy and grace to
help in time of need? But not to forget the exhortation, “Come boldly.”
Indeed, we are apt to forget this exhortation; we think, seeing we are
such abominable sinners, we should not presume to come boldly to the
throne of grace; but yet so we are bidden to do; and to break a
commandment here is as bad as to break it in another place.
You may ask me, What is it to come boldly? [I] answer—
1. It is to come confidently—“Let us draw near with a true heart, in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22).
2. To come boldly, it is to come frequently—“At morning, at noon, and
at night, will I pray.” We use to count them bold beggars that come
often to our door.
3. To come boldly, it is to ask for great things when we come. That is
the bold beggar that will not only ask, but also choose the thing that
he asketh.
4. To come boldly, it is to ask for others as well as ourselves, to beg
mercy and grace for all the saints of God under heaven as well as for
ourselves—“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit—for all saints” (Eph 6:18).
5. To come boldly, it is to come and take no nay; thus Jacob came to
the throne of grace—“I will not let thee go except thou bless me” (Gen
32:26).
6. To come boldly, it is to plead God’s promises with him both in a way
of justice and mercy, and to take it for granted God will give
us—because he hath said it—whatever we ask in the name of his Son.
Fourth. Labour to advance God’s grace in thy heart, by often admiring,
praising, and blessing God in secret for it; God expects it—“Whoso
offereth praise glorifieth me,” says he. “By Jesus Christ therefore let
us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually; that is, the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks to his name” (Psa 50:23; Heb 13:15).
SECOND. [In life.] But again; as we should advance this grace in our
hearts, so we should do it in our life. We should in our conversation
adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. It is a great word
of the apostle, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the
gospel of Christ,” which is the gospel of the grace of God (Phil 1:27).
God expecteth that there should in our whole life be a blessed tang24
of the gospel, or that in our life among men there should be preached
to them the grace of the gospel of God.
The gospel shows us that God did wonderfully stoop and condescend for
our good; and to do accordingly, it is to stoop and condescend to
others.
The gospel shows us that there was abundance of pity, love, bowels, and
compassion in God towards us; and accordingly we should be full of
bowels, pity, love, and compassion to others.
The gospel shows us that in God there is a great deal of willingness to
do good to others.
The gospel shows us that God acteth towards us according to his truth
and faithfulness, and so should we be in all our actions one to
another.
By the gospel, God declares that he forgiveth us ten thousand talents,
and we ought likewise to forgive our brother the hundred pence.
And now, before I conclude this use, let me give you a few
heart-endearing considerations to this so good and so happy a work.
[Heart-endearing Considerations.]
First. Consider, God hath saved thee by his grace. Christian, God hath
saved thee, thou hast escaped the lion’s mouth, thou art delivered from
wrath to come; advance the grace that saves thee, in thy heart and
life.
Second. Consider, God left millions in their sins that day he saved
thee by his grace; he left millions out, and pitched upon thee; it may
be hundreds also, yea, thousands, were in the day of thy conversion
lying before him under the preaching of the word as thou wert, yet he
took thee. 25 Considerations of this nature affected David much; and
God would have them affect thee, to the advancing of his grace in thy
life and conversation (Psa 78:67-72; Deu 7:7).
Third. Consider, perhaps the most part of those that God refused that
day that he called thee by his grace were, as to conversation, far
better than ever thou wert—I was a blasphemer, I was a persecutor, I
was an injurious person, but I obtained mercy! O this should affect thy
heart, this should engage thy heart to study to advance this grace of
God (1 Tim 1:14,15).
Fourth. Perhaps in the day of thy conversion thou wast more unruly than
many. Like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, hardly tamed, thou wast
brought home by strong hands; thou wouldst not drive, the Lord Jesus
must take thee up, lay thee upon his shoulder, and carry thee home to
his Father’s house. This should engage thy heart to study to advance
the grace of God (Luke 15:1-6).
Fifth. It may be many did take even offence at God in his converting
and saving of thee by his grace, even as the elder son was offended
with his father for killing the fatted calf for his brother, and yet
that did not hinder the grace of God, nor make God abate his love to
thy soul. This should make thee study to advance the grace of God in
thy heart and life (Luke 15:21-32).
Sixth. Consider again, that God hath allowed thee but a little time for
this good work, even the few days that thou hast now to live—I mean,
for this good work among sinful men, and then thou shalt go to receive
that wages that grace also will give thee for thy work to thy eternal
joy.
Seventh. Let this also have some place upon thy heart—every man shows
subjection to the god that he serveth; yea, though that god be none
other but the devil and his lusts; and wilt not thou, O man! saved of
the Lord, be much more subject “to the Father of spirits, and live”?26
Alas! they are pursuing their own damnation, yet they sport it, and
dance all the way they go. They serve that “god” (Satan) with
cheerfulness and delight, who at last will plunge them into the
everlasting gulf of death, and torment them in the fiery flames of
hell; but thy God is the God of salvation, and to God thy Lord belong
the issues from death. Wilt not thou serve him with joyfulness in the
enjoyment of all good things, even him by whom thou art to be made
blessed for ever?
Object. This is that which kills me—honour God I cannot; my heart is so
wretched, so spiritless, and desperately wicked, I cannot.
Answ. What dost thou mean by cannot? 1. If thou meanest thou hast no
strength to do it, thou hast said an untruth, for “greater is he that
is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). 2. If thou
meanest thou hast no will, then thou art out also; for every Christian,
in his right mind, is a willing man, and the day of God’s power hath
made him so (Psa 110:3). 3. If thou meanest that thou wantest wisdom,
that is thine own fault—“If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not” (James 1:5).
Object. I cannot do things as I would.
Answ. No more could the best of the saints of old—“To will is present
with me,” said Paul; “but how to perform that which is good I find
not.” And again, “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other, so that
ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Rom 7:18; Gal 5:17).
And here indeed lies a great discovery of this truth, “ye are saved by
grace”; for the children of God whilst here, notwithstanding their
conversion to God, and salvation by Christ through grace, are so infirm
and weak by reason of a body of death that yet remaineth in them, that
should even the sin that is in the best of their performances be laid
to their charge, according to the tenor of a covenant of works, they
would find it impossible ever to get into glory. But why do I talk
thus? It is impossible that those that are saved by grace should have
their infirmities laid to their charge as afore, “for they are not
under the law”; they are included by the grace of God in the death and
blood of the Son of God, who ever liveth to make intercession for them
at the right hand of God; whose intercession is so prevalent with the
Father as to take away the iniquity of our holy things from his sight,
and to present us holy, and unreprovable, and unblamable in his sight.
To him, by Christ Jesus, through the help of the blessed Spirit of
grace, be given praise, and thanks, and glory, and dominion, by all his
saints, now and for ever. Amen.
FOOTNOTES:
1 General course of manners, behaviour, deportment, especially as it
regards morals (see Phil 1:27, 1 Peter 1:15).
2 Their conduct proved to the living that they were dead, they
themselves having no feeling or sense of spiritual life; but, when
quickened, their penitence and good works were brought into existence
by Divine power; they feel the joys of salvation, but feel also their
total unworthiness of this new creating power, and sing, “O to grace
how great a debtor!”—Ed.
3 The hospital of St. Mary Bethlem, vulgarly called “Bedlam,” bestowed,
in 1545, upon the citizens of London, who appropriated it to the
reception of lunatics. It being the only public hospital for that class
of the afflicted in England, it gave the name of “bedlam” to all whose
conduct could only be accounted for on the score of madness.—Ed.
4 The person who writes this, was a singular instance of the truth of
our author’s remark; having been twice providentially preserved from
drowning, and once from the fatal effects of a violent fever, before
effectual saving grace had reached his soul. The same rich and abundant
mercy follows all the elect, quickens them when dead, saves them when
lost, and restores them when ruined. God hath chosen us unto salvation,
and enables us to live holily on earth, in order to a life of happiness
in heaven. The Father’s good will and pleasure is the only fountain
from whence the salvation of believers flows; and such as are given to
Christ by the Father he considers as his charge, and stands engaged for
their preservation; and the death of Christ for sinners, is an evident
demonstration of the love of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
towards them; this love manifested in time was in and upon the heart of
God before the world began.—Mason. What a multitude of unseen dangers,
both spiritual and temporal, the Christian escapes before he is
called!—Ed.
5 “Rarely,” finely, nicely.
6 A safe-conduct is a military term, either a convoy or guard for
protection in an enemy’s land, or a passport, by the sovereign of a
country, to enable a subject to travel with safety.—Imperial Dict.—Ed.
7 What amazing love! Christ visited this poor beggar, yea, was formed
in him the hope of glory; his body, so miserable in the sight of man,
was a temple of the Holy Ghost, and the angels carry his soul to
heaven. O the riches of grace!—Ed.
8 What heart can conceive the glorious worship of heaven? The new song
shall be as the voice of many waters, and a great thunder, when the
“ten thousand times ten thousand and thousand of thousands” shall sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and
wisdom, and strength, and honour, and blessing.” O that my poor voice
may join that celestial choir!—Ed.
9 The fear of the Lord—an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains
about thy neck, and life unto thy soul.—Solomon.
10 “Their appearance and themselves”; this beautiful illustration might
escape the reader’s notice, unless specially directed to it. The living
creatures were always the same, although seen under different
circumstances, and in diverse places. Inside and out they were the
same; without deviation or turning, they went straight forward. It is
well said that Bunyan has here snatched a grace beyond the reach of
art, and has applied it to exalt and beautify consistency of Christian
character.—Ed.
11 This is one of Bunyan’s peculiarly affecting representations, which
in preaching went to the heart, producing intense interest, and tears
of contrition over the stubbornness of human nature. Reader, Bunyan,
being dead, yet speaketh; can you feel unaffected under such an
appeal?—Ed.
12 “To stave,” to thrust, to push, to delay.—Ed.
13 These terms are taken from Foxe’s Martyrology. It was frequently the
brutal remark of the Judges, You must turn or burn. Bunyan here applies
it to turning from sin or burning in hell.—Ed.
14 This treatise having been written some years after the Pilgrim’s
Progress, Bunyan very naturally refers to the well-known scene in the
Interpreter’s House, where the fire is kept burning by oil from behind
the wall, in spite of all the water thrown upon its flames.—Ed.
15 “To tend,” to watch, to guard, to attend.—Ed.
16 How pointedly, how admirably, does this illustrate the fond
absurdities, the extreme follies of the human heart! “To serve God with
such dainty dishes,” the cleanest being befouled with sin. “A cleaner
way to hell than our neighbours!”—Ed.
17 O how humbling a consideration! Our sins are numberless, of
omission, of commission, openly and secretly; nay, in a thousand cases
they escape the sinner’s observation. “Cleanse thou me from secret
faults.”—Ed.
18 “Shuck,” to shake or start back.—Ed.
19 In Bunyan’s time, the saints of God were sorely tormented by
penalties, fines, and imprisonments. It required great faith in a
mother, who saw all her goods seized, for not going to church, the
incarnate devils throwing the milk that was warming for her infant on
the dunghill, and the skillet in which it was contained into the cart,
answering her prayers for mercy on her babe. Let the brat of a heretic
starve.—Ed.
20 How abasing and humbling to human pride is it thus to conceive, that
all have sinned, and, in the sight of God, are hell-deserving. What!
says the honourable man, must I take mercy upon no higher consideration
than the thief on the cross? Or the highly virtuous dame, Must I sue
for mercy upon the same terms as the Magdalene? The faithful answer to
both is, YES, or you must perish.—Ed.
21 “False apostles,” mentioned in Acts 15, who would have blended
Jewish observances with Christianity, and have brought the converts
into misery and thraldom. They are specially referred to in 2
Corinthians 11:13, “false apostles,” deceitful workers, that devour you
and take from you (verse 20). In contradistinction to Paul, who was
“chargeable to no man” (verse 9).—Ed.
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 Fowler for attacking the doctrine
of justification, although a great man with the state, and soon
afterwards made a bishop, is a proof that he was a stranger to the fear
of man. He had said enough, and therefore there was no need to
enlarge.—Ed.
23 How does Bunyan here exhibit the perfection as well as the freeness
of the pardon that Micah celebrates! That which is sunk in the depths
of the sea is lost for ever.—Ed.
24 “Tang,” taste, touch, savour, flavour, relish, tone, sound. A word
of extensive meaning, but now nearly obsolete. “No tang of
prepossession or fancy appears in the morality of our Saviour or his
apostles.”—Locke.—Ed.
25 What can I render unto thee, my God, for such unspeakable
blessedness? The cattle upon a thousand hills, yea, all creation, all
that I have and am, is thine: all that I can do is “to take the cup of
salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.” Not unto us, but unto
thy name, be all the praise and honour of salvation!—Ed.
26 In the edition of 1692, this sentence is “subject to the Father of
spirits and love.” It is a very singular mode of expression to call God
“the Father of love.” God is love, and that author and source of all
holy love. Bunyan was at all times governed by Scripture phrases, with
which his mind was so richly imbued as to cause him, if we may so
speak, to live in a scriptural atmosphere; and this sentence bears a
great affinity to Hebrews 12:9, “Shall we not much rather be in
subjection to the Father of spirits, and live.” I have been, for these
reasons, induced to consider the letter o in “love” a typographical
error, and have altered the word to “live,” but could not take such a
liberty without a public notice.—Ed.
THE STRAIT GATE;
OR,
GREAT DIFFICULTY OF GOING TO HEAVEN:
PLAINLY PROVING, BY THE SCRIPTURES, THAT NOT ONLY THE RUDE AND PROFANE,
BUT MANY GREAT PROFESSORS, WILL COME SHORT OF THAT KINGDOM.
“Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the
way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it.”—Matthew 7:13, 14
ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.
If any uninspired writer has been entitled to the name of Boanerges, or
a son of thunder, it is the author of the following treatise. Here we
have a most searching and faithful display of the straitness or exact
dimensions of that all-important gate, which will not suffer many
professors to pass into the kingdom of heaven, encumbered as they are
with fatal errors. Still “it is no little pinching wicket, but wide
enough for all the truly gracious and sincere lovers of Jesus Christ;
while it is so strait, that no others can by any means enter in.” This
is a subject calculated to rouse and stimulate all genuine professors
to solemn inquiry; and it was peculiarly intended to dart at, and fix
convictions upon, the multitudes of hypocritical professors who
abounded in Bunyan’s time, especially under the reigns of the later
Stuarts.