forgets, although it is that which sanctifies the whole duty of man.
For this is that, and nothing without it, that can make a man sincere
in his obedience; the hypocrite looks for applause abroad, and forgets
that he is condemned at home, and both these he does because he wanteth
the fear of God.
Hypocrite, be admonished that none of the privileges that are spoken of
in the former part of the book belongs to thee, because thou art a
hypocrite; and if thou hope, thy hope shall be cut off, and if thou
lean upon thy house, both thou and it shall fall into hell-fire.
Triumph then, thy triumph is but for awhile. Joy then, but the joy of
the hypocrite is but for a moment (Job 8:13,15, 20:4-6).
Perhaps thou wilt not let go now, what, as a hypocrite, thou hast got;
but “what is the hope of the hypocrite, when God taketh away his soul?”
(Job 27:8). Hypocrite, thou shouldest have chosen the fear of God, as
thou hast chosen a profession without it, but thou hast cast off fear,
because thou art a hypocrite; and because thou art such, thou shalt
have the same measure that thou metest; God will cast thee off, because
thou art a hypocrite. God hath prepared a fear for thee because thou
didst not choose the fear of God, and that fear shall come upon thee
like desolation, and like an armed man, and shall swallow thee up, thou
and all that thou art (Prov 1:27).
Hypocrite, read this text and tremble—“The sinners in Zion are afraid,
fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell
with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting
burnings?” (Isa 33:13,14).
Hypocrite, thou art not under the fatherly protection of God, because
thou art a hypocrite, and wantest his fear in thine heart. The eyes of
the Lord are upon them that fear him, to deliver them. But the fearless
man or hypocrite is left to the snares and wiles of the devil, to be
caught therein and overcome, because he is destitute of the fear of
God.
Hypocrite, thou art like to have no other reward of God for thy labour
than that which the goats shall have;[36] the hypocrite, because he is
a hypocrite, shall not stand in God’s sight. The gain of thy religion
thou spendest as thou gettest it. Thou wilt not have one farthing
overplus at death and judgment.
Hypocrite, God hath not intrusted thee with the least dram of his
saving grace, nor will he, because thou art a hypocrite: and as for
what thou hast, thou hast stolen it, even every man of you from his
neighbour; still pilfering out of their profession, even as Judas did
out of the bag. Thou comest like a thief into thy profession, and like
a thief thou shalt go out of the same. Jesus Christ hath not counted
thee faithful to commit to thee any of his jewels to keep, because thou
fearest him not. He hath given his “banner to them that fear him, that
it may be displayed because of the truth” (Psa 60:4).
Hypocrite, thou art not true to God nor man, nor thine own soul,
because thou art a hypocrite! How should the Lord put any trust in
thee? Why should the saints look for any good from thee? Should God
give thee his Word, thou wilt sell it. Should men commit their souls to
thee, thou wilt destroy them, by making merchandise of them, for thy
own hypocritical designs. Yea, if the sun waxes hot, thou wilt throw
all away, and not endure the heat, because thou art a hypocrite!
FOOTNOTES:
[1]This is a very remarkable illustration of godly fear. Jacob does not
swear by the omnipresence or omniscience of God—nor by his
omnipotence—nor by his love or mercy in his covenant—nor by the God of
Abraham, but by the “fear of his father Isaac”—the sole object of his
adoration. A most striking and solemn appeal to Jehovah, fixing upon
our hearts that Divine proverb, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom”—the source of all happiness, both in time and in
eternity.—Ed.
[2] It is of solemn importance that we feel the vast difference between
holy and unholy familiarity with God. Has he adopted us into his
family? Can we, by a new birth, say “Our Father?” Still he is in
heaven, we on earth. He is infinite in purity; Holy, Holy, Holy is his
name. We are defiled, and can only approach his presence in the
righteousness of the Saviour and Mediator. Then, O my soul, if it is
thy bliss to draw near to the throne of grace with holy boldness, let
it be with reverence and godly fear.—Ed.
[3] It is an awful thing to appeal to God for the truth of a lie! All
appeals to God, not required by law, are worse than useless; they are
wicked, and cast a doubt on the veracity of those who make them—Ed.
[4] “To give the back”; to forsake, to depart, to treat with contempt.
See Imperial Dictionary, vol. i. p. 145.—Ed.
[5] The genuine disciple “who thinketh no evil” will say, Can this be
so now? Yes, reader, it is. Some go to God’s house to worship their
ease and forgetfulness in sleep; some for worldly purposes; some to
admire the beauty of the frail body; but many to worship God in spirit
and in truth. Reader, inquire to which of these classes you belong.—Ed.
[6] They worshipped God, not according to his appointment, but their
own inventions—the direction of their false prophets, or their
idolatrous kings, or the usages of the nations round about them. The
tradition of the elders was of more value and validity with them than
God’s laws by Moses. This our Saviour applies to the Jews in his time,
who were formal in their devotions, and wedded to their own inventions;
and pronounces concerning them that in vain do they worship God. How
many still in worship regard the inventions of man, and traditions of
the church, more than the commands of God.—Ed.
[7] The Word is the decree upon which we must depend or perish. In
vain, poor sinner, is any reliance upon churches or men; neither Papist
nor Protestant have any power “committed unto them” to forgive sins. If
they claim it, believe them not, but pity their pride and delusion.
Christ is the Rock, and not poor erring Peter, as some have vainly
imagined. Peter is dead, awaiting the resurrection of his body, and the
great day of judgment; but Christ ever liveth at all times, and in all
places, able to save unto the uttermost. 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 since then, to a late period, very large
impressions have been circulated. Upon a subject of such vast
importance—upon which hangs all our eternal interests—all our
indescribable joys or sorrows in a future and never-ending state—the
requirements of our Creator—and His gracious provision of pardoning
mercy, upon our failing to keep His Law—these are subjects of intense
interest. How important is it that all our researches into these solemn
realities should be guided simply by the revealed will of God! That was
the fountain at which Bunyan drunk in all his knowledge; and with
simplicity, and most earnest desire to promote the glory of God in the
salvation of sinners, he here gives the result of his patient,
prayerful, painful investigation. The humble dependence upon Divine
mercy which the author felt is very striking. He was sensible of his
want of education; “no vain, whimsical, scholar-like terms”—no
philosophy from Plato or Aristotle. He felt, as to human teaching, his
weakness, but proved that, “when he was weak, then was he strong.” He
claimed an interest in the fervent prayers of his fellow saints—“My
heart is vile, the devil lieth at watch, trust myself I dare not; if
God do not help me, my heart will deceive me.” This was the proper
spirit in which to enter upon so solemn a subject; and the aid he
sought was vouchsafed to him, and appears throughout this important
work. His first object is to define what is the Law, a strict obedience
to which is exacted upon all mankind. It was given to Adam, and was
afterwards more fully developed upon Mount Sinai. It commands implicit,
universal, perfect obedience, upon pain of eternal ruin. He shows us
that man, under the influence of that law, and while a stranger to the
Law of Grace, may repent and reform his conduct, become a member of a
Christian church, be a virgin waiting for his Lord, “but not step even
upon the lowest round of the ladder that reacheth to heaven.” While man
is a stranger to the new birth, “his destiny is the lion’s den; yea,
worse than that, to be thrown into Hell to the very devils.” Bunyan in
this, as well as all other of his works, is awfully severe upon those
who say, “Let us sin that grace may abound,” perverting the consolatory
doctrine of Divine grace to their souls’ destruction. “What! because
Christ is a Saviour, wilt thou be a sinner! because His grace abounds,
therefore thou wilt abound in sin! O wicked wretch! rake Hell all over,
and surely I think thy fellow will scarce be found. If Christ will not
serve their turn, but they must have their sins too, take them, Devil;
if Heaven will not satisfy them, take them, Hell; devour them, burn
them, Hell!” “Tell the hogs of this world what a hog-sty is prepared
for them, even such an one as a God hath prepared to put the devil and
his angels into.”
To the distressed, sin-beaten Christian, this book abounds with
consolation, and instructions how to overcome the devices of Satan, who
will plant the Ten Commandments, like ten great guns, to destroy thy
hopes. “Learn to outshoot the devil in his own bow, and to cut off his
head with his own sword. Doth Satan tell thee thou prayest but faintly
and with cold devotions? Answer him, I am glad you told me, I will
trust the more to Christ’s prayers, and groan, sigh, and cry more
earnestly at the Throne of Grace.” To such readers as have been driven
to the verge of despair by a fear of having committed the unpardonable
sin, here is strong consolation, and a very explicit scriptural
definition of that awful crime. Want of space prevents me adding more
than my earnest desire that the reading of this treatise may be
productive of solid peace and comfort.—ED.
THE EPISTLE TO THE READER
READER,
If at any time there be held forth by the preacher the freeness and
fullness of the Gospel, together with the readiness of the Lord of
Peace to receive those that have any desire thereto, presently it is
the spirit of the world to cry out, Sure this man disdains the law,
slights the law, and counts that of none effect; and all because there
is not, together with the Gospel, mingled the doctrine of the law,
which is not a right dispensing of the Word according to truth and
knowledge. Again; if there be the terror, horror, and severity of the
law discovered to a people by the servants of Jesus Christ, though they
do not speak of it to the end people should trust to it, by relying on
it as it is a covenant of works; but rather that they should be driven
further from that covenant, even to embrace the tenders and privileges
of the second, yet, poor souls, because they are unacquainted with the
natures of these two covenants, or either of them, therefore, “they
say,” “Here is nothing but preaching of the law, thundering of the
law”; when, alas, if these two be not held forth—to wit, the Covenant
of Works and the Covenant of Grace, together with the nature of the one
and the nature of the other—souls will never be able either to know
what they are by nature or what they lie under. Also, neither can they
understand what grace is, nor how to come from under the law to meet
God in and through that other most glorious covenant, through which and
only through which, God can communicate of Himself grace, glory, yea,
even all the good things of another world.
I, having considered these things, together with others, have made bold
to present yet once more to thy view, my friend, something of the mind
of God, to the end, if it shall be but blessed to thee, thou mayest be
benefited thereby; for verily these things are not such as are ordinary
and of small concernment, but do absolutely concern thee to know, and
that experimentally too, if ever thou do partake of the glory of God
through Jesus Christ, and so escape the terror and insupportable
vengeance that will otherwise come upon thee through His justice,
because of thy living and dying in thy transgressions against the Law
of God. And therefore, while thou livest here below, it is thy duty, if
thou wish thyself happy for the time to come, to give up thyself to the
studying of these two covenants treated of in the ensuing discourse;
and so to study them until thou, through grace, do not only get the
notion of the one and of the other in thy head, but until thou do feel
the very power, life, and glory of the one and of the other: for take
this for granted, he that is dark as touching the scope, intent, and
nature of the law, is also dark as to the scope, nature, and glory of
the Gospel; and also he that hath but a notion of the one, will barely
have any more than a notion of the other.